BMC Elections 2026: Congress Leader Prithviraj Chavan Seeks Cancellation Of Colaba Wards Polls Over RO Row

Mumbai: After several allegations against the assembly speaker, BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar, for being present in the Returning Officer (RO) office and influencing the candidates' nomination process for the 2026 BMC elections, former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has called the situation ‘deplorable’ and demanded to cancel the whole election process in the three wards within Colaba constituency, and conduct the entire election process from the beginning.

‘High Constitutional Functionary Threatened Election Officials’

Chavan said, “Colaba constituency, which assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar represents, has three civic wards. In all three wards in his constituency, the BJP has given tickets to his relatives, conveniently forgetting the ‘bhai-bhatija’ argument. However, the fact that the high constitutional functionary threatened another constitutional functionary and threatened people who filed the nomination is absolutely deplorable.

“I demand that civic elections for all three wards under Colaba constituency should be cancelled; otherwise, democracy has no meaning. You can't conveniently run the elections to boost a particular individual. The prime minister of India should take cognisance of this and act on it.”

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday moved the Bombay High Court against the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC), the BMC commissioner and the RO Krishna Jadhav for allowing their candidate Prof. Margaret Da Costa to file her nomination, despite her being present much before the deadline of 5 pm in the RO’s premises and her paying the deposit money.

AAP Alleges Misuse of Constitutional Authority

“Narwekar misused his constitutional position and ‘hijacked’ election machinery and put undue pressure on the RO. Narwekar and his entourage physically obstructed the AAP candidate and 17 other candidates from filing nominations,” said AAP leader Ruben Mascarhenas.

“The HC will hear the case on Thursday,” he said.

SEC, BMC Reports Find No Direct Complaint Against Narwekar

The commissioners of the SEC and BMC have completed the investigation report on allegations made by the opposition. However, they said that there was no mention on MLA Rahul Narwekar in the complaint letters by any candidate or party. BMC commissioner, who is also the district election officer, clarified earlier that RO Jadhav should have ‘administratively ensured that all candidates' forms are submitted who were given tokens, however, there are no ‘legal’ lapses.

Last week, a 12-signatory letter was submitted by former NCP MP Rajesh Rathod demanding the immediate suspension of RO Jadhav. The Congress party also circulated a video showing Narwekar’s presence in the RO office.

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