Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena continued its impressive performance in the Zilla Parishad elections in Maharashtra's Raigad and emerged as the single largest party, winning 21 of the 59 seats. It's alliance partners, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), also performed well, winning 15 and 16 seats, respectively. The polling for the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections were held in 12 districts across three divisions of Maharashtra on February 7 (Saturday) from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, and a voter turnout of 67 per cent was recorded, as per the data shared by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC).
The Raigad district has 59 Zilla Parishad seats. It also has 118 Panchayat Samitis seats in 15 Panchayat Samitis -- Panvel, Karjat, Khalapur, Sudhagad, Pen, Uran, Alibaug, Murud, Roha, Tala, Mangaon, Mhasla, Shriwardhan, Mahad, and Poladpur. In the previous local body elections in Maharashtra in 2017, the Congress, the undivided NCP and the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) had formed an alliance, winning 38 out of the 59 Zilla Parishad seats, while the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition bagged 21 seats. In the Panchayat Samiti elections, the undivided Shiv Sena won 41 of the 118 seats. The NCP won 23 seats, Congress 12, the BJP nine and other parties registered with the SEC bagged 33 seats, according to the data provided by the state poll body.
