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

Mumbai: The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls, voting for which will be held on January 15.

Across the state, as many as 68 candidates from the BJP and the Mahayuti have been elected unopposed, reflecting the party's growing strength in urban local bodies, BJP leader Keshav Upadhye said on Friday.

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

BJP candidates Manjusha Nagpure and Shrikant Jagtap from Pune's ward number 35 were elected unopposed after their opponents withdrew their nomination forms. The two were elected from the ward between 2017 to 2022.

Hailing the wins, Union minister and senior BJP leader Murlidhar Mohol said the next mayor of Pune will be from his party.

"We have a target of 125 seats out of which we have already won two, so 123 are remaining. Two seats were won unopposed. This is a certificate for out party's good governance," Mohol claimed.

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has seen 22 of its candidates getting elected unopposed, while the figure is two for Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party.

BJP leaders attributed the trend to the popularity of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and what they described as the successful electoral strategy of state unit president Ravindra Chavan.

These have helped the BJP emerge as a dominant force not only in municipal councils but also in major municipal corporations, the leaders added.