Maharashtra Local Body Polls: BJP and Shiv Sena Lead Early Trends

In the latest early trends from the Maharashtra Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally Shiv Sena have established a preliminary lead over their competitors. As ballot counting commenced on Monday morning, the BJP secured a lead in 26 Zilla Parishad seats while Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena took the lead in 13 seats, according to televised reports, though no formal confirmation has been released by the State Election Commission.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is leading in 13 seats, the Congress in 10, and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) in six seats. The counting process began at 10 a.m., following elections conducted on Saturday across 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis, which collectively hold significant sway over regional governance.

The results of these polls are anticipated to steer the trajectory of the NCP factions led by Ajit Pawar and party founder Sharad Pawar. These factions set aside their recent rivalry to informally unite for these elections in certain regions, running under the traditional 'clock' symbol.