Mumbai, Dec 31 (NationPress) Following the conclusion of nomination paper scrutiny for the elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made significant strides, as six of its candidates were elected unopposed prior to polling. These developments have provided the party with early momentum ahead of the elections slated for January 15.

In the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), the BJP achieved an unopposed victory in three wards. Rekha Chaudhary was elected unopposed from Ward 18-A, which is reserved for OBCs. A seasoned corporator and the district president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, she was the only candidate to file nomination from this ward. Asawari Navre, making her electoral debut and coming from an RSS-associated family, secured an unopposed win from Ward 26-C. Ranjana Perkar also won unopposed from Ward 26-B, marking a trio of early wins for the party in KDMC.

BJP state president Ravindra Chavan extended his congratulations to the winners, highlighting that the party's early successes were led by women. He also arranged a video call for the unopposed candidates with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

In the Panvel Municipal Corporation, BJP candidate Nitin Patil was elected unopposed from Ward 18-B after his sole opponent, Rohan Gawand of the Peasants and Workers Party, had their nomination rejected due to an invalid caste certificate.

Furthermore, the BJP claimed two unopposed seats in the Dhule Municipal Corporation. In a surprising political move, Ujjwala Bhosale, wife of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) city district president Ranjit Bhosale, joined the BJP just two days prior. Her victory was confirmed after all rival nominations were rejected during scrutiny. Jyotsna Praful Patil also won unopposed from Ward 6-B after no other candidates submitted nominations against her.

Most of these unopposed wins stemmed from the rejection of opposing nominations on technical grounds or the lack of contenders in reserved wards.

Reflecting on these developments, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis remarked that every seat holds significance, and unopposed victories indicate a robust level of public trust and a lack of viable opposition in specific regions. Party officials stated that these early achievements have uplifted the morale of their cadre ahead of the main polling date.

The municipal elections have also revealed divisions within the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Despite a seat-sharing arrangement between the BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) in Mumbai and Thane, they could not agree on the distribution of seats in 24 out of the 29 municipal corporations. Consequently, constituent parties—BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP—will compete against each other in numerous cities, including Jalna, Parbhani, Latur, Amravati, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Solapur, Akola, Malegaon, Nanded, Nagpur, Sangli, Nashik, Dhule, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi, and Vasai-Virar.

The BJP–NCP (Ajit Pawar) alliance is currently limited to Akola, Ahilyanagar, and Panvel, while the BJP–Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance is active only in Chandrapur, Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, and Bhiwandi.

Moreover, constituents of the Mahayuti will be in direct contests in Ichalkaranji (friendly fight), Kolhapur, Jalgaon, and Panvel.