Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) could not win a single seat in Navi Mumbai, except one that it won in Aurangabad. The counting of votes in both the civic bodies began on Monday morning and was completed by evening.

The NCP fought the elections solo in Navi Mumbai without going into alliance with the Congress. The civic polls were considered to be a prestige issue for state excise and prohibition minister Ganesh Naik of the NCP.

For the 89 seats in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the NCP won 55, Congress 13, Shiv Sena 16, BJP 1 and others 4.  The Sena and BJP fought the election here in alliance, while the MNS contested all the seats but could not open its account, as a sign that the people of Navi Mumbai did not accept the agenda and policy of the MNS. The NCP received a jolt, when their candidate and deputy mayor Shashikant Birajdar was defeated by Sena candidate.

In the civic polls in Aurangabad, no political party was able to obtain a clear majority. But the voters had done their job of brining the Sena-BJP alliance close to the doorsteps of the power in the civic body. To grab power, the saffron alliance would be compelled to take the support of the independent candidates. The Sena had become the largest party to win 30 out of the 99 seats in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation polls. The BJP won 15, Congress 19, NCP 11, MNS 1, City Front 3, and 20 independent won the seats. Sena’s Member of Parliament Chandrakant Khaire’s son Rishikesh Khaire also lost the election by a huge margin.

In another development, Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan informed legislators in the Assembly on Monday evening that the government has taken no decision to confer the prestigious Raj Kapoor life time achievement award on Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.

Replying to a question by BJP legislator Devendra Phadnavis who asked the chief minister as to how the government had bestowed the prestigious award on Khan, Chavan said “the government has set up a expert committee for giving the award. This committee would take a decision on whom to confer the award. The reports in the mass media about the award being conferred on Khan is baseless,” Chavan said.