The results of phase III of Maharashtra Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat elections would be declared today. The counting of votes was scheduled to begin in the morning by the State Election Commission. The polls were conducted on Sunday in the four districts of Aurangabad, Bhandara, Nanded and Gadchiroli. A total of 342 seats were contested across 20 municipal councils and 2 nagar panchayats. India.com is bringing to you all the live updates of the results. Stay tuned to receive all the latest updates in realtime.

A total of 1,623 candidates are in the fray. According to assessment of candidate affidavits done by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Maharashtra Election Watch, nearly 8 per cent of candidates were found with assets more than Rs 1 crore. Meanwhile, 264 candidates have declared assets worth less than Rs 2 lakh.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming to leave a mark in the third phase of elections as well. The party has performed in an overwhelming manner in the first two electoral rounds. In the phase I of elections, a total of 3510 seats were contested. BJP emerged as the number one electoral outfit, bagging 851 of the total 3510 seats contested. Congress secured the second spot, winning 643 seats. Shiv Sena, which did not enter into an alliance with BJP, won 514 seats. Sthanik Aghadi emerged victorious on 384 seats. Others bagged 443, whereas, the Left forces won 12 seats.

In terms of municipal councils’ president posts, BJP nominees won 52 out of 147 positions.

In the second round of elections, NCP put up a strong show in its stronghold districts of Pune and Latur. Out of the 324 seats contested, NCP prevailed on 91, followed by BJP winning 81. In terms of municipal councils’ president posts, BJP bagged 5 out of 14.