Raj Thackeray is kingmaker in Kalyan-Dombivli poll

Contesting the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls for the first time, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena emerged triumphant, getting 26 seats in the 107-member House which saw a fractured verdict.

The ruling combine of the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party secured 40 while the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party polled 30 seats, far short of the 54-seat mark for staking claim to power.

The fractured verdict has also given rise to speculation about the role the MNS will play, as Raj Thackeray had announced that the next mayor will be from his party.

Following is the party position in the 107-member KDMC: Shiv Sena 31, MNS 26, NCP 15, Congress 15, BJP 9, others 11.

In the 77-member Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, polling for which was also held on Sunday, the Congress secured 31 seats, followed by the NCP-Jan Surajya Party combine which got 29 seats.

The NCP had entered into an alliance with the JSP whose chief Vinay Kore had campaigned for MNS candidates in Mumbai.

Senior state Congress leader Patangrao Kadam lost no time in announcing that as the Congress has emerged the number one party, the next Kolhapur mayor will be from his party.

The party position in KMC is as follows: Congress 31, NCP-Jan Surajya Party 29, Sena-BJP 7, Shahu Aghadi 1 and others 9.

Elections for the Kalyan-Dombivali and Kolhapur Municipal corporations were held on Sunday.

Kalyan-Dombivli witnessed a hectic campaign with the Sena-BJP, MNS and Congress-NCP pulling out all stops to woo the voters as the civic poll was described as the curtain-raiser to the Mumbai municipal corporation poll in February 2012.

Campaigning in Kalyan-Dombivli saw MNS chief Raj Thackeray target his uncle and Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray for the first time since he quit the Shiv Sena over the appointment of his cousin Uddhav as its working president.

The sullied image of the Congress following revelations that Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's relatives were beneficiaries of flat allotment in the controversial Adarsh housing society in Mumbai, is reflected in the party getting fewer seats than it expected.