Maharashtra council elections: BJP-led Mahayuti eyes clean sweep in 17 MLC seats

The BJP-led Mahayuti is aiming for a clean sweep in the elections to 17 local authorities constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, with polling held for 12 seats on Thursday.

The ruling alliance has already secured five seats unopposed and claims to have contained the internal dissent that threatened to upset its electoral calculations in key constituencies such as Satara-Sangli and Nashik. Counting of votes will take place on June 22.

The elections are being decided by elected representatives from local civic bodies. Despite the Mahayuti’s dominance across local bodies, several contests became politically significant due to infighting and unease among alliance partners.

The ruling coalition’s unopposed victories include BJP’s Arun Lakhani from Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, NCP’s Vikram Kakade from Pune and Aniket Tatkare from Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Shiv Sena nominees Ravindra Phatak from Thane and Dushyant Chaturvedi from Yavatmal.

The Satara-Sangli constituency exposed continuing tensions within the alliance. While the BJP fielded Dhairyasheel Kadam, sections of the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde openly expressed reservations over the seat-sharing arrangement.

The rift became visible when Shiv Sena leader and minister Shambhuraj Desai skipped a Mahayuti coordination meeting linked to the election. Desai had said the party would take a decision a day before polling and follow directions from Shinde. The eventual withdrawal of Shiv Sena rebel Tanajirao Patil ensured a direct contest between BJP’s Kadam and NCP (SP)’s Abhaysinh Jagtap, preventing a split in Mahayuti votes.

Nashik emerged as an even bigger challenge for the ruling alliance after BJP leader Gokul Gite entered the fray as an Independent against the Mahayuti’s official candidate, Shiv Sena’s Narendra Darade. The rebellion stemmed from dissatisfaction among a section of BJP leaders over the seat being allotted to Shiv Sena and local grievances against Darade.

The situation prompted intervention by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BJP minister Girish Mahajan, regarded as the party’s troubleshooter, and Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant. Although Gite later agreed to suspend his campaign, the Mahayuti shifted its voters to resorts to prevent any last-minute surprises.

Polling was also held in Jalgaon, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna, Parbhani-Hingoli, Nanded, Amravati, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Solapur, Dharashiv-Latur-Beed and Ahilyanagar constituencies.

The Mahayuti’s prospects have also been boosted by a series of withdrawals by Opposition candidates.

Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Bal Mane withdrew from the Konkan constituency and was subsequently suspended by his party. NCP (SP) candidate Shrikant Patil pulled out in Pune, paving the way for Kakade’s unopposed election, while Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Deoyani Patil Dongaonkar withdrew from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna seat and was later expelled from the party.

Congress, too, suspended Shailesh Agrawal and Sahebrao Kamble after they withdrew from the Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli and Yavatmal constituencies respectively, contributing to the Mahayuti’s unopposed victories.

The Opposition has alleged that the ruling alliance used money power, political influence and pressure tactics to engineer the withdrawals, an allegation rejected by Mahayuti leaders.