Mumbai: Although several candidates from the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance have reportedly been elected unopposed in municipal corporations across Maharashtra, the State Election Commission (SEC) has not officially declared any such results so far.
The SEC has clarified that no candidate can be termed “elected unopposed” unless the Returning Officers (ROs) concerned submit detailed reports along with written statements from candidates who withdrew their nominations.
Unopposed victories were reported from municipal corporations such as Kalyan-Dombivli, Thane, Jalgaon, Panvel, Dhule, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune, following which senior leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena were seen congratulating the winning candidates. “When candidates are said to be elected unopposed, we immediately seek reports from the returning officers and verify them on three parameters. We ascertain whether the withdrawal of nominations was due to threats, monetary inducements or any other form of coercion. Without this verification, we do not declare any election unopposed,” the officer said.
The officer further stated that it is incorrect to claim unopposed victories without clearance from the SEC. “Normally, we allow a period of about one week and then RO personally communicate with candidates who have withdrawn their nominations. Written statements are obtained from them before completing the verification process. Without an SEC certificate, declaring any candidate unopposed has no validity,” the officer added.
According to unofficial claims till Friday evening, 44 BJP candidates, 18 Shiv Sena candidates, two NCP candidates and one Islam Party candidate were said to have won unopposed. As per these claims, in Kalyan-Dombivli, 15 from the BJP and six from the Shiv Sena candidates were reportedly elected unopposed. Jalgaon reportedly saw 12 unopposed candidates, equally divided between the BJP and Shiv Sena.
In Panvel, eight BJP candidates were said to have been elected unopposed, while Dhule reported three BJP candidates and Pimpri-Chinchwad two BJP candidates. In Thane, six Shiv Sena candidates were reportedly unopposed, while Ahilyanagar saw two NCP candidates, Bhiwandi six BJP candidates and Pune two BJP candidates declared unopposed by party sources.
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