Thane, May 8: Barring a twinge of uncertainty over the reaction of Sena chieftain Ganesh Naik's supporters to his dismissal, polling in all municipal councils, corporations, Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis went off peacefully in the Legislative Council polls held here today.There was a feeling that the Ganesh Naik factor would have its effect, with his supporters deciding to boycott the elections. However, all of them voted after Sena chief Bal Thackeray cracked the whip.
However, building on the Naik-Joshi spat, Naik's supporters kept up the suspense, saying, ``We have voted, but until the counting, how will anyone know who we voted for?'' when asked if this meant a defeat for the Naik faction.
``If they can keep a decision regarding our leader in abeyance and harass him we also know how to play by their rules,'' they added.
The district registered 98.72 per cent voting with 698 of the 707 votes cast. The Zilla Parishad has 64 members while there are 12 panchayat samiti chairpersons. Otherswho voted include 100 corporators of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), 57 of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), 74 of the Ulhasnagar Municipal Council and 91 of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), 52 councillors of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Council (MBMC), 32 from the Ambernath Municipal Council, 20 from the Kugaon-Badlapur Municipal Council, 70 from the Bhiwandi-Nizampura Municipal Council, 23 from Vasai, 29 from Virar, 22 from Nallasopara, 21 from Navghar-Manikpur, 21 from Dahanu and 19 from Jawahar.
Counting will take place on May 10.
In the absence of an absolute majority, both the Congress and the Shiv Sena are relying on the support of Independent members. While the Congress is determined to retain its seat, the Shiv Sena is using all its might to wrest the seat away from the Congress.
This election is also significant for the Sena, coming as it does after a rout in the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress is equally concerned about the elections with senior leaderSharad Pawar keeping close tabs on the process.
While sitting MLC Vasant Davkhare is trying his luck a second time, the Sena has fielded senior leader and deputy district chief Shashikant Thosar.
The BJP, the Shiv Sena's electoral partner, has declared that its candidate Padmakar Kulkarni was not in the race though his name was in the ballot paper.
The party-wise position in the election is as follows: Congress 142, Shiv Sena 212, BJP 87, CPM 7, JD 15, RPI 10, SP 18, Independents 95 and 121 local fronts.
The local fronts include Hitendra Thakur's in Vasai and Jyoti Kalani's in Ulhasnagar besides the ones in Bhiwandi and Mira-Bhayander.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
