Despite being among the most politically charged local body elections in years, with multiple parties and their breakaway factions contesting them, 69 councillors have been elected unopposed, with the BJP emerging as the biggest beneficiary, winning 44 of these wards.
The 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s richest civic body, has seen a 24% decline in the number of candidates in the fray, down to 1,729 this time from 2,275 in 2017.
These trends have sparked a political row, with the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties alleging that many candidates were “forced” or “persuaded to withdraw at the last minute” to clear the way for the ruling Mahayuti alliance’s nominees.
The Mahayuti parties deny these charges, saying the withdrawals reflect their strength on the ground. The State Election Commission (SEC) has stated that it would look into the instances of unopposed candidates and asked local officials to submit reports about the elections in these wards.
The elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra with 2,869 seats are scheduled for January 15.
An ‘unusual’ pattern
Even before polling, altogether 69 candidates have already been elected unopposed in different civic bodies across the state. While this accounts for about 2% of the total seats, what stands out is that the Mahayuti accounts for all but one of these wins.
The BJP has emerged as the biggest gainer, securing 44 seats without a contest, 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 unopposed wins, with 22 seats decided without a contest. Of these, 15 went to the BJP and seven to the Shiv Sena, which are contesting the elections together in this corporation. The KDMC is the home turf of Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan.
In the Jalgaon City Municipal Corporation, 12 candidates from the Mahayuti, including six each from the BJP and the Shiv Sena, were left without rivals following last-minute withdrawals. Jalgaon is the home district of state Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan.
Such outcome is rare in the urban civic body elections, which are usually marked by close, ward-level contests and multi-cornered fights.
Concerned by the sharp rise in withdrawals, the SEC has asked returning officers not to formally declare results in these wards until an inquiry is completed. Municipal commissioners, returning officers and police chiefs have been directed to submit reports to examine whether candidates were pressured or offered inducements to withdraw from the polls.
“As per the rules, in case of any unopposed victory, we seek reports from the returning officer or the district collector. It is to ensure that no force or any other means were used to intimidate others from contesting,” said a senior SEC official.
MVA accuses Mahayuti
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)’s MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Mahayuti, calling the trend of unopposed wins “unprecedented”.
“Even the biggest leaders this country has seen were never elected unopposed,” Raut said at a press conference. “Atal Bihari Vajpayee was not elected unopposed. Barrister Nath Pai was not elected unopposed. Vasantdada Patil, Ram Manohar Lohia, none of them. Not even Narendra Modi. But Maharashtra has now created a new tradition.”
Raut alleged that candidates were being forced out of the race through “pressure tactics and inducements”. “Sama, dana, danda, bheda, persuasion, money, intimidation and division are being deployed to ensure unopposed victories,” he said.
He claimed that candidates were being paid to withdraw. “Opponents are being offered Rs 5 crore each to step aside. This is not an election, it is a market,” he alleged.
Senior NCP leader Nawab Malik of the ruling alliance also raised concerns over the conduct of returning officers and announced that his party would file a formal complaint with the Election Commission (EC).
Malik alleged that in ward 151 in the BMC, a BJP candidate was allowed to contest a reserved seat using a caste certificate issued in Rajasthan instead of Maharashtra. “This is illegal and a clear violation of election rules,” he said.
He also said that in the BMC’s ward 119, a candidate from the Shiv Sena was cleared despite being a municipal vendor, which he claimed disqualifies the candidate under election norms.
Malik also alleged that in Mumbai’s M West, S and Vikhroli wards, returning officers took “midnight decisions” to approve “ineligible” candidates. “These officers will lose their jobs once the matter reaches the High Court,” he warned.
State Congress chief Harshavardhan Sapkal said there were a high number of complaints over the manner in which the elections were being conducted.
“The unopposed way of ending democracy, where they settle with the Opposition candidates either by scaring them with the threats of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by bribing them. They are trying to buy out their victories, and it is a shame that the Election Commission is staying quiet on this,” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told reporters in Mumbai.
BJP hits back
The BJP has rejected all charges of coercion and misuse of power. “These unopposed victories reflect the confidence voters have in the development work carried out by the Mahayuti government under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Since even Opposition candidates were convinced that voters would elect BJP candidates, they chose to withdraw from the race,” said state BJP president Ravindra Chavan.
These trends have sparked a political row, with the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties alleging that many candidates were “forced” or “persuaded to withdraw at the last minute”. 
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