Up to 69 Candidates Set to Be Elected Unopposed in Maharashtra Civic Polls, Opposition Alleges Coercion

As many as 68 candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance’s three main parties are poised to be elected unopposed in the upcoming elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, with one additional unopposed candidate from the Islam Party in Malegaon, taking the total to 69.

In what is shaping up to be a highly fragmented civic contest, 2,869 seats are at stake across the municipal corporations. According to figures confirmed on Friday, the final day for withdrawal of nominations, 44 BJP candidates, 22 from the Shiv Sena, two from the NCP, and one from the Islam Party are facing no opponents.

The unusually high number of unopposed candidates has triggered sharp reactions from opposition parties, which have accused the ruling BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP of pressuring rival candidates to withdraw or using inducements to secure last-minute exits from the race.

In response, the State Election Commission (SEC) has directed returning officers not to declare winners in wards where candidates are unopposed until a detailed inquiry is completed.

The elections are expected to be among the most complex civic polls in the state’s history, with alliance partners contesting against each other in some areas while former rivals have joined hands elsewhere, turning the elections into a high-stakes numbers game.

The Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has recorded the highest number of unopposed candidates at 22. KDMC is the hometown of Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan. Jalgaon, the home district of water resources minister Girish Mahajan, follows with 12 such candidates.

In KDMC, which has 122 seats and where the BJP and Shiv Sena are allied, 15 BJP candidates and seven Sena candidates are unopposed. In the 78-seat Panvel Municipal Corporation, six BJP candidates were left without rivals after Congress, Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) and Shiv Sena candidates withdrew their nominations.

In the 165-seat Pune Municipal Corporation, also contested by the BJP-Sena alliance, two BJP candidates — Manjusha Nagpure and Shrikant Jagtap — now face no competition following the withdrawal of Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) candidates.

Jalgaon has 12 unopposed ruling party candidates — six each from the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Notably, all six candidates who withdrew nominations against Sena candidates in Jalgaon belonged to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

Expressing concern over the developments, the Sena (UBT) has reportedly sent some of its candidates to other districts to shield them from alleged pressure. “We have taken utmost care to ensure our candidates are not coerced or lured into withdrawing. The ruling alliance is using every possible means to force withdrawals,” said a Sena (UBT) leader from Jalgaon.

Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray accused the Mahayuti alliance of manipulating the electoral process. “The power of money is being misused to force opponents to withdraw,” he alleged. Party leader Sanjay Raut further claimed that ruling parties were pressuring returning officers to “unlawfully prevent” opposition candidates from filing nominations.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal said the elections were being “flooded with complaints” of misuse of power by the ruling parties, despite expectations of free and fair polls.

Rejecting the allegations, BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said opposition candidates withdrew because they realised they could not win. “This reflects the popularity of our government and our election strategy. After our success in the first phase of local body polls, the opposition pre-empted defeat and chose to withdraw,” he said.

Upadhye also dismissed allegations of coercion. “Such misuse of power is not possible in hi-tech elections where wrongdoing can be easily exposed. These accusations are only meant to cover up the opposition’s poor performance,” he added.

Meanwhile, the SEC has announced a probe into the matter by three state authorities. An SEC official said returning officers, municipal commissioners and police commissioners would be asked to submit detailed reports on wards with unopposed candidates to determine whether coercive practices or inducements were involved.

The official added that comparisons with previous elections were not possible, as the 29 municipal corporations did not go to the polls simultaneously in the past.