Mumbai: Riding high on its massive Assembly poll victory in Bihar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has stormed ahead in Maharashtra’s local body elections even before a single vote is cast, with more than 100 candidates elected unopposed as councillors in nagar panchayats and nagar parishads.
The saffron wave peaked on Thursday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations, when rival candidates across the state pulled out en masse, paving the way for the BJP’s clean sweep in several urban local bodies. Adding to the victory, three BJP nominees secured unopposed mayorships.
North Maharashtra led with 49 unopposed victories, followed by Western Maharashtra (41), Konkan (4), Marathwada (3), and Vidarbha (3).
In a historic first, the entire 26-member council plus the mayor’s post in Dondaicha Nagar Palika (Dhule) went to BJP without contest. Similarly, in Jamner Nagar Palika (Jalgaon), 10 councillors and Mayor Sadhna Mahajan – wife of senior leader Girish Mahajan – walked away victorious unopposed.
State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule hailed the development as proof of people’s unwavering faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Mahayuti government’s development agenda. The unopposed victories signal deepening grassroots dominance for the BJP just days after the alliance’s landslide in the Bihar state Assembly.
As polling day approaches, the saffron party appears poised for an even bigger haul in Maharashtra’s civic battlefield.