On January 2, the final day for withdrawing nominations to contest the civic polls, as many as 68 candidates across multiple municipal corporations in Maharashtra suddenly pulled out of the race, paving the way for unopposed victories for the ruling Mahayuti alliance – the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party – in these wards.
This unprecedented scale of unopposed wins, which includes 44 for the BJP, 22 for Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and two for NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), is the highest ever recorded in Maharashtra’s civic election history.
Sukanya Shantha
08/01/2026