32% vote share each for Sena, BJP in BMC polls: Exit poll
An exit polling, conducted by Axis-My-India after Tuesday's BMC election, has predicted that both Shiv Sena and BJP will have a vote share of 32% each. The exit poll further gave 86 to 92 seats to Shiv Sena and 80 to 88 seats to BJP. The Congress, MNS and NCP were given 30-34 seats, 5-7 seats and 3-6 seats respectively. 
Billed as a citadel of Maharashtra's Shiv Sena, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) might be on course to welcome the BJP as an equally powerful - if not more - stakeholder in its governance, exit polls showed.The Shiv Sena fielded candidates on all 227 BMC wards across the metropolis for Tuesday's elections. The Congress fought 221 and the BJP 211. Besides, the MNS contested 201 wards, the NCP 171, the BSP 109, the Samajwadi Party 76 and the Hyderabad-based AIMIM 56.Partners in the central and state governments, the Shiv Sena and the BJP opposed each other on the BMC turf because of various factors, including differences over seat-sharing.Exit polls conducted by Axis-My-India after Tuesday's elections indicated both parties secured a vote share of 32 percent each. The Congress, the survey showed, could manage 16 percent, the NCP four and the MNS eight percent.In terms of wards, the exit poll forecast 86 to 92 seats for the Shiv Sena. The BJP followed closely, with a possible victory in 80 to 88 wards, the post-election survey predicted.The Congress is likely to win 30 to 34 seats, the NCP three to six and the MNS five to seven, according to the exit poll.Official data show the Mumbai metropolis accounts for a major portion of the nation's international trade and government revenue. The BMC, figures reveal, is not just the richest municipal corporation in the country but is wealthier than one of the other three major metros by ten times.Against the BMC's budget of Rs 37,052 crore for 2016-17, the allocation for the municipal corporations of Delhi was Rs 6,919 crore, Rs 5,123.51 crore for the Greater Chennai Corporation and Rs 3,793 crore for Kolkata Municipal Corporation for the same year.Historically, Mumbai's iconic BMC has remained a Shiv Sena stronghold.The Sena, which fought past its elections in alliance with the BJP, won 75 seats in 2012 and 84 in 2007 on its own. Its junior partner, the BJP, secured 31 wards in 2012 and 28 in 2007.