Ahead of the municipal elections in Maharashtra scheduled for January 15, the ruling Mahayuti alliance has taken a significant early lead, with 68 of its candidates being elected unopposed across various municipal corporations in the state. Notably, not a single candidate from the opposition secured an unopposed victory.

Of the 68 unopposed winners, 44 belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party, 22 to Shiv Sena, and 2 to the Nationalist Congress Party. These victories were recorded in municipal corporations including Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Panvel, Bhiwandi, Dhule, Jalgaon and Ahilyanagar. Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation alone accounted for the highest number of such results, with 15 BJP and 7 Shiv Sena candidates elected unopposed.

In Pune Municipal Corporation, two BJP candidates — Manjusha Nagpure and Shrikant Jagtap from Ward No. 35 — were declared elected unopposed after opposition nominees withdrew their papers.

The opposition has strongly criticised the ruling alliance, alleging misuse of power and government machinery. While releasing his alliance manifesto at Shiv Sena Bhavan, Uddhav Thackeray termed the developments an unprecedented abuse of power, stating that such a large number of unopposed victories cannot be a coincidence.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has formally approached the Election Commission, demanding re-elections in all 68 wards and is also preparing to move the court. MNS chief Raj Thackeray alleged that power and money were used to force opposition candidates out of the fray, drawing parallels with earlier cases in West Bengal where the BJP had protested similar outcomes.

The Congress has also levelled serious allegations. Maharashtra Congress president Harsh Vardhan Sapkal claimed that government resources and funds were misused to engineer these unopposed wins. Mumbai Congress vice president and spokesperson Mohsin Haider alleged that candidates were threatened and intimidated into withdrawing nominations, stating that he personally faced pressure tactics.

Rejecting these claims, Mahayuti leaders asserted that the unopposed elections were the result of local political equations and technical factors at the ward level. They maintained that no opposition candidate has officially come forward to substantiate allegations of coercion or intimidation, calling the charges baseless.

Meanwhile, there is no official confirmation of any unopposed results in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. In Mumbai, the contest remains largely open, with several seats witnessing fights between major parties and independent candidates. In areas like Ghatkopar and parts of South Mumbai, BJP–Shinde alliance candidates are facing independents rather than alliance-backed opposition nominees.