Nagpur, Oct 18 (IANS): The Opposition Congress won big in the recent elections to the posts of Chairpersons and Deputy Chairpersons of the panchayat samiti in Nagpur district, the stronghold of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Chandrashekhar Bawankule and state Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The Congress managed to grab nine of the 13 posts of Chairpersons in Nagpur Rural, Kamptee, Kuhi, Saoner, Mouda, Umred, Bhiwapur, Parseoni and Kalmeshwar, besides eight of the 13 Deputy Chairperson posts in the district.

Its ally Nationalist Congress Party bagged three posts of Chairpersons - Narkhed, Katol and Hingna, while Balasaheb's Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde got one post in Ramtek.

Though the BJP failed to secure even a single post of Chairperson, it won three posts of Deputy Chairpersons in what is also the hometown of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari while the RSS headquarters are also located here.

Expressing satisfaction, Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe said the results are "not surprising" and the party has been on a continuous winning spree in all the local bodies elections held in the past few months.

Formed for the tehsil or talukas, the Panchayat Samitis are a crucial link between the Gram Panchayat and the District administration for planning and implementing all development projects of the government at the local levels.