The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has registered a major pre-poll victory in Maharashtra as several of its candidates were declared elected unopposed even before voting began for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls 2026. In the Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation, the last day of withdrawal of nominations turned into a major win for the BJP after five candidates were declared unopposed. With this, the party now has six candidates in Bhiwandi who have secured victory without facing any contest. The unopposed win of a minority Muslim candidate has also drawn attention, with political observers calling it a sign of "social outreach" by the party.
Unopposed winners in Bhiwandi
- Ward 18A: Ashwini Sanni Futankar
- Ward 18B: Deepa Deepak Madhavi
- Ward 18C: Abusad Ashfaq Ahmed Sheikh
- Ward 16A: Paresh (Raju) Chaughule
- Ward 23B: Bharti Hanuman Choudhary
These early wins seem to have boosted the morale of the BJP in Bhiwandi as Party leaders and workers have termed it a positive sign ahead of the municipal election results.
Three BJP candidates win unopposed in Dombivli
In Dombivli East too, the BJP registered three uncontested victories. Mukund (Vishu) Pednekar from panel 26/A, Mahesh Patil from panel 27/D and Sai Shelar from ward 19/A were declared elected unopposed.
The withdrawals by Manoj Gharat of the MNS against Mahesh Patil and Rahul Bhagat of the Thackeray faction against Pednekar paved the way for smooth victories. These results have further strengthened the BJP's position in Dombivli.
Mahayuti dominates Jalgaon with 12 unopposed wins
In the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation, Mahayuti recorded an impressive performance with 12 corporators elected unopposed. This includes six BJP candidates and six Shinde-led Shiv Sena candidates. The dominance underscores Mahayuti's growing influence in the region. A total of 1,068 nomination applications were filed for the Jalgaon civic polls, out of which 650 were deemed valid. Eventually, 12 candidates from the Mahayuti bloc sailed through uncontested.
Unopposed BJP winners in Jalgaon
- Ward 12B: Ujwala Bendke
- Ward 7C: Vishal Bhole
- Ward 16A: Virendra Khadke
- Ward 7A: Deepmala Kale
- Ward 13C: Vaishali Patil
- Ward 7B: Ankita Patil
Unopposed Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) winners
- Ward 18A: Gaurav Sonawane
- Ward 2A: Sagar Sonawane
- Ward 9A: Manoj Choudhary
- Ward 9B: Pratibha Deshmukh
- Ward 19A: Ganesh Sonawane
- Ward 19B: Rekha Patil
Mahayuti claims early upper hand
With 13 days left for elections to 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra, the BJP has already secured 27 unopposed wins, while Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) has bagged 7. The BJP leadership has termed these results as a vote of confidence in the state government's development agenda. The party also asserted that just as it led the assembly and zilla parishad elections, it is set to emerge as the number one party in the upcoming municipal polls. Mahayuti leaders claim that their alliance is poised to secure mayoral posts across multiple corporations.
(Inputs from Suni Sharma and Sayyed Naki Hasan)
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