A year after storming to power in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have suffered a considerable erosion of support base in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ home turf Vidarbha, losing to Congress-NCP in the municipal polls in the region.
The Congress termed the poll outcome in Vidarbha region as a “wake-up call” for ruling coalition. The BJP could succeed in getting a clear majority only in three out of 29 municipal councils in Vidarbha, the results of which were declared on Monday, while the Shiv Sena failed to win in any these civic bodies.
The Congress got a clear majority in five councils, while NCP emerged victorious in one. One of the biggest setbacks to BJP was in Nagpur district, the home turf of Fadnavis and Union Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, as the party failed miserably in all the three councils of Kuhi, Hingana and Bhiwapur.