The Congress has won the Latur Municipal Corporation (LMC) elections, securing 43 of the 70 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished a distant second with 22 seats, officials said on Thursday. The results were declared on January 16, a day after polling was held across the city on January 15.With this victory, the Congress has crossed the simple majority mark comfortably, ensuring control of the civic body that oversees Latur’s urban infrastructure, planning and municipal services. The remaining seats were won by smaller parties and independents.
A total of 3,82,940 voters were eligible to cast their ballots in the election, which was held across 18 wards of the city. Counting took place under tight security, with early trends through the day steadily consolidating Congress’s lead before the final tally was confirmed.The Latur result stands out amid the broader Maharashtra municipal elections, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance has otherwise put up a strong show in several urban bodies during earlier phases of polling.In the 2017 LMC elections, the BJP had emerged as the single-largest party with 36 seats, while the Congress had secured 33 seats and the Nationalist Congress Party had won one. The latest outcome marks a clear reversal of fortunes for the two main rivals in Latur’s civic politics.Over the past decade, leadership of the LMC has frequently changed hands. Congress mayors have included Prof Smita Khanapure (2012–2014), Akhtar Sheikh (2014–2016), Deepak Sul (May 2016–May 2017) and Vikrant Gojamgunde (November 2019–May 2022), while the BJP held the mayor’s post under Suresh Pawar from May 2017 to November 2019.
