Maharashtra civic elections | From 10 to 69, unopposed wins spike this time but it was a rarity earlier

Even before polling scheduled for January 15, as many as 69 candidates were declared elected unopposed. While this accounts for about two per cent of the total seats, what has drawn attention is that all but one of these victories have gone to the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the biggest gainer, winning 44 seats unopposed, followed by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 22, and the Ajit Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with two. One seat was won unopposed by the Malegaon based Islam Party.

The Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) recorded the highest number of walkovers, with 22 seats decided without a contest. Of these, 15 went to the BJP and seven to the Shiv Sena, which are contesting together in the corporation. KDMC is the home turf of Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan.

In Jalgaon, 12 candidates from the ruling alliance, six each from the BJP and the Shiv Sena, were elected unopposed following last minute withdrawals. Jalgaon is the home district of Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan.

Such outcomes are unusual in urban civic elections, which are typically marked by close, ward level contests and multi cornered fights.

In previous elections, unopposed wins were limited in number and spread across parties. During 2009 to 2013, 11 candidates were elected unopposed, with the NCP accounting for four seats, the Congress three, the Shiv Sena two, and the BJP one, while one seat went to the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi. In the 2004 to 2009 elections, 10 candidates were elected unopposed, four from the NCP, three from the Congress, two from the Shiv Sena, and one from the BJP. Both these election cycles were held when the Congress NCP was in power in the state.
The rise in unopposed wins has come alongside a broader narrowing of contests. The number of municipal corporations in Maharashtra has increased from 22 in 2000 to 29 at present. Across the four civic election cycles since then, the total number of candidates rose from 14,930 to 17,451, and then 17,432, before dropping sharply to 15,931 in the current elections.

A comparison with earlier municipal corporation elections shows that the BJP has emerged as the biggest gainer by a wide margin in the current round of polls when it comes to unopposed victories. In the two preceding election cycles combined, the BJP had secured just two unopposed seats — one between 2004 and 2009, and one between 2009 and 2013. In the present elections, that figure has jumped to 44, marking a dramatic expansion unmatched by any other party.

On Sunday, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray urged the SEC to cancel results in 68 civic wards where ruling alliance candidates were elected unopposed, arguing that such outcomes deny voters, especially first time and young voters, their right to vote.

Speaking alongside MNS chief Raj Thackeray at the launch of their joint manifesto for the Mumbai civic polls, Uddhav said democracy should not be reduced to mobocracy. Referring to the unopposed wins ahead of the January 15 polling, he said, “If the SEC has courage, it should cancel elections where candidates were chosen unopposed and initiate the poll process again in those civic wards.”

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, responding to the criticism, said that the ruling alliance would stand by its victories even if the Opposition approached the courts. “They can certainly go to court, but the people’s court has elected us. Even if they move the court, the people’s mandate will prevail,” he said.