Maharashtra civic polls: 68 Mahayuti candidates elected unopposed, including 44 from BJP

Maharashtra: The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the civic elections, for which voting will take place on January 15. BJP leader Keshav Upadhyay said on Friday that 68 BJP and Mahayuti candidates were elected unopposed across the state, reflecting the party’s growing strength in urban local bodies.

This includes 44 BJP candidates, with the highest number coming from the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation in Thane district, followed by Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Panvel, Bhiwandi, Dhule, Jalgaon, and Ahilyanagar.

BJP candidates Manjusha Nagpure and Shrikant Jagtap from Ward No. 35 in Pune were elected unopposed after their opponents withdrew their nomination forms. Both were elected from this ward between 2017 and 2022.

Praising the victory, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Murlidhar Mohol said that the next mayor of Pune will be from his party. Mohol claimed, “Our target is 125 seats, of which we have already won two, so 123 seats are left. Two seats were won without any opposition. This is a certificate of our party’s good governance.”

Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has seen 22 candidates elected without any opposition, while Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party has two.

BJP leaders attributed this trend to the popularity of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the successful election strategy of state unit president Ravindra Chavan.

The leaders further said that this has helped the BJP emerge as a major force not only in municipal councils but also in major municipal corporations.