Sena cautions BJP over civic body poll results in Maha

The Shiv Sena asked the BJP on Monday not to celebrate its win in two civic polls in Maharashtra, saying it did not show that voters' mood was turning in its favour ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The Sena sought to downplay the BJP's win in the Sangli and Jalgaon municipal polls held last week, saying that leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, convicted in a corruption case, win elections.

The BJP won the Sangli -Miraj -Kupwad Municipal Corporation election last week by defeating the Congress NCP alliance and also swept the Jalgaon civic body where it trounced the Shiv Sena.

This is for the first time that the BJP has come to power in the two civic bodies.

"If the victory in Sangli and Jalgaon is being seen as an indicator for the next general elections, then why did the BJP struggle to win the Palghar Lok Sabha seat bypoll?" the Sena asked in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'. It also reminded the BJP that it had lost the bypoll to the Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat in May.

The BJP had won the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in May this year, albeit with a reduced margin compared to votes it garnered in 2014.

The Sena asked Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, who is credited for the BJP's win in Sangli civic polls, to be cautious.

The Sena said that after the civic poll results, Patil had taunted the opposition parties for not blaming their defeat on the Electronic Voting Machines. It reminded the minister that it was the BJP which had levelled similar charges about EVMs a decade ago.