Mumbai civic polls: Shiv Sena+ leads, MNS may be kingmaker

The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance stuck to its early lead in the richest civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls as counting is underway on Friday. It's a do-or-die battle for the Shiv Sena, which has controlled the BMC since 1996.

It is also a big test for the ruling Congress and NCP that contested together for the first time.

BMC, the country's richest civic body with a budget of over Rs 20,000 crore, more than that of many states, has 227 seats.

Counting also began for other civic bodies across Maharashtra including Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik.

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance took an early lead in Thane.

The BJP took the early lead in party President Nitin Gadkari's home city Nagpur.

In Pune, the NCP and the BJP were neck and neck.

Nashik saw a close battle between the Congress, Shiv Sena and MNS during the early hours of counting.

All eyes are on MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who is expected to emerge as kingmaker.

Counting of votes for 27 Zilla Parishads, 309 Panchayat Samitis and 10 municipal corporations, including Mumbai was underway. The results would be out by the afternoon.

However, political parties have expressed disappointment with Thursday's voter turnout that stood at a dismal 46 per cent - with most of the elite choosing to ignore the polls.

Milind Deora, Congress MP, said, "Mumbai's affluent do not vote as much, in fact not at all. And that's something that needs to change."

Billed as a mini-assembly election, the polls will test the political acumen and charisma of not only Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, but also Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav Thackeray.