Debutant Janata Dal (United) has prevented the ruling BJP from making a clean sweep of the local body polls in Arunachal Pradesh, days after six of its seven MLAs officially joined the BJP in the frontier state.

The BJP has won maximum seats in the panchayat polls and even won the Pasighat Municipal Council polls convincingly but the hung verdict in the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC), which covers the state capital area, has taken the sheen off its overall victory.

Of the 20 seats that make the IMC, the BJP won 10 seats, JD(U) nine and National People’s Party (NPP) one seat. Of the ten seats that the BJP won, five were uncontested.

Therefore, effectively election was held for 15 seats. The Congress drew a blank, its downslide in the state continues.

The BJP watchers said despite the overall emphatic showing by the ruling party, the IMC result was a sort of setback because the seat of administration falls under the IMC.

“The BJP is well placed to form the corporation but it would have been a different feeling had it won a majority on its own. JD(U) played spoilsport,” one of them said.

State JD(U) president Ruhi Tagung said he was happy with the overall outcome.“ Effectively we are the winners. We won nine of the 14 seats we contested, that too where voters are more informed. We are happy with the outcome even if we are short by two seats to form the corporation because it came against the ruling party, amid possible departure of our six MLAs.

“The voters believed in us, what we said, Nitish ji’s leadership and the performance of our MLA (Techi Kaso),” Tagung said.

Kaso is the lone remaining MLA with the JD(U). The other six MLAs joined the BJP on December 23, a day after the polls, but buzz about their impending departure started growing since November.

The JD(U) and NPP, part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, are, however, not allies of the ruling party in the state. The defection of the six MLAs to the BJP has not gone down well with the Central leadership.

Asked whether they will join the BJP in forming the council or remain in the Opposition, Tagung said that will be clear within a few days. “ We will go by what our leadership decides,” Tagung said.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s close aide R.C.P. Singh was on Sunday appointed the new JD(U) president.

The state BJP president B. Wahge said they are happy with the overall outcome and will form the corporation with the help of the NPP when asked whether they will approach the JD(U) for support.