The Congress lost yet another stronghold to the Bharatiya Janata Party as counting for the election to the Latur Municipal Corporation, which was held on April 19, started on Friday. The drought-hit district of Maharashtra, considered to be the fiefdom of the late chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, handed 40 of the 70 municipal corporation seats to the BJP, Hindustan Times reported.
Counting in several seats continues. Results are expected to be declared by Friday night.
In Chandrapur Municipal Corporation in Vidarbha, the BJP won 32 of the 66 seats. The Congress won 17, the report added. The Congress, however, was leading in the Parbhani Municipal Corporation, winning 30 out of 65 seats, and looking to wrest power from the Nationalist Congress Party, which was leading in 20 seats.
The trends in Latur, now controlled by the former Maharashtra chief minister’s son Amit Deshmukh, were especially encouraging for the BJP as it had not managed to win a single seat in the 2012 municipal elections.
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