‘Votes in your hand, funds in mine’, 100 BJP leaders unelected unopposed: Why Mahayuti is facing Opposition fire in Maharashtra
Several kin of top BJP leaders, including CM Devendra Fadnavis's cousin and BJP minister Girish Mahajan’s wife, win state local polls unopposed.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (file) 
Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan’s remark that 100 party councillors had already been elected unopposed in local body polls in parts of the state has not only brought the party into the crosshairs of the Opposition but has also raised questions over “intimidatory and dynastic politics”.
Terming the coming local body polls a “farce”, state Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal accused the BJP of “blatantly misusing power”. “They used the term ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar but are intimidating Opposition candidates. They have crossed all limits,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve trained guns on the BJP’s ally NCP led by Ajit Pawar. “When the Deputy CM, who is also the Finance Minister, bargains for votes citing development funds, what kind of free and fair polls are we talking about. What is the Election Commission (EC) doing? If top leaders of ruling parties publicly threaten people, can we expect justice for Opposition candidates?” he asked.
Danve’s reference was to Ajit’s rally on Saturday in Malegaon, where he said, “I am ready to deliver everything I have promised if you ensure victory of all my 18 candidates… Votes are in your hand, funds are in mine.”
On Sunday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis underplayed Ajit’s remarks, saying leaders “often try to push their party workers or candidates”. “It does not mean they are indulging in wrongdoing or luring voters,” he told the media in Nagpur.
According to Chavan, four councillors who were elected unopposed are from the Konkan region, 49 from North Maharashtra, 41 from Western Maharashtra and three each from the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. A total of 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats are scheduled to go to polls on December 2 in the first phase, with the results being declared a day later.
Dismissing the allegations as “baseless”, Fadnavis said the BJP “believes and strictly adheres to democracy and the election mechanism”. “It (unopposed election) only demonstrates the people’s trust in the BJP leadership and the party’s development work,” he added.
The CM’s remarks, however, stand in sharp contrast to those made by his party colleagues in the recent past. Last week, BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule kicked up a row after he told BJP workers in Gadchiroli “not to worry about expenses”. “We have to submit expenditure details to the EC,” he said. He later clarified that he was speaking about erecting a pandal in the party office and not enticing voters.
In February, another BJP minister, Nitish Rane, ruffled feathers after he said villages “not associating with the BJP” will not get development funds. “Join the Mahayuti and get your work done. Only they will get funds.”
BJP ‘dynasts’ in the fray
The Opposition has also accused the BJP of “promoting dynastic politics”. “Opponents are finding it hard to contest against money and muscle power. Are they now not promoting dynastic politics?” Sapkal asked, pointing towards the long list of relatives of BJP leaders elected unopposed.
In Jamner, BJP minister Girish Mahajan’s wife Sadhana was elected unopposed as municipal council president after Congress nominee Rupali Lalwani and two other NCP candidates withdrew.
Nayan Kunwar Rawal, the mother of minister Jaykumar Rawal, was elected president of the Dondaicha-Varwade Municipal Council without contest after the nomination of Opposition candidate Sharyu Bhavsar was rejected. Bhavsar has accused the minister of using “pressure tactics” to get her nomination rejected.
Another high-profile unopposed election came from Chikhaldara Municipal Council, where Fadnavis’s cousin Alhad Kaloti became president, triggering accusations of “intimidation and inducement” from Congress leader Yashomati Thakur.
Other BJP elected representatives whose relatives are either in the fray or have been elected unopposed are ministers Aakash Fundkar, Sanjay Savkare, Ashok Uike, former MP Ramdas Tadas, and MLAs Mangesh Chavan and Prakash Bharsakle.
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