BJP Leads Early in Maharashtra Local Elections Count

Counting of votes for local body elections across 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis in Maharashtra began Monday morning, with early trends showing the Bharatiya Janata Party leading in more than 200 seats amid ongoing tallies for 731 Zilla Parishad positions and 1,462 Panchayat Samiti seats.

The polls, held February 7 after a postponement from the original February 5 date, were delayed due to the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash and the ensuing three-day state mourning period. Voting drew a turnout of 68.28 percent among over 2.08 crore eligible voters, with more than 7,400 candidates in the fray. Each voter cast two ballots: a white one for Zilla Parishad constituencies and a pink one for Panchayat Samiti divisions. The elections spanned districts including Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Latur, focusing on grassroots governance bodies that influence rural development and local administration.

Counting started at 10 a.m. under tight security at designated centers, with party agents present to monitor the process. Officials emphasized that initial...