Cong faces third defeat in a year in Malegaon

The ghosts of Malegaon blast are still haunting the Congress at the textile mill town.

After a losing streak in the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, the Congress again lost in the mayor elections for the Malegaon Municipal Corporation held on Tuesday morning.

The Malegaon Municipal Corporation has a budget of about Rs 100 crore.

Congress candidate Ejaz Baig lost to the Janata Dal -Secular rebel candidate Malik Yunus Eisa, who was supported by the ruling Third Front.

The Third Front, led by Member of Legislative Assembly Mufti Mohd Ismael, had won the civic elections in 2007 and also the recently held assembly elections.

Eisa had contested the election as a JD-S candidate, but later rebelled and joined the Third Front.

The Congress has not managed to get back in power in the Muslim-dominated Malegaon after the blast in Malegaon in 2006 that killed 31 people and injured 312 others.

The Congress had lost the 2007 civic elections too.

Speculations were rife that Baig would win the mayoral elections, however the mandate turned out to be contrary.

Sources said the Congress was very desperate to get back in power in Malegaon after a string of defeats in the Lok Sabha elections in April 2009 and the assembly elections in October 2009.