Cancel elections where candidates won unopposed, hold polls again in such wards: Uddhav to SEC

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday demanded that civic elections where candidates, almost all from ruling parties, won unopposed should be cancelled and polls re-initiated in these wards.

Speaking along side Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, Uddhav claimed the atmosphere in the country is like democracy has been taken over by mobocracy.

The two cousins also unveiled their alliance manifesto for Mumbai civic polls on the occasion.

Raj Thackeray asserted that Marathi has to be respected and the mayor of Mumbai and other cities in the state will be Marathi.

Uddhav Thackeray said since his government was dislodged and the Eknath Shinde helmed the state government (in June 2022), the wealth of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is being splurged for contractors.

If the BMC's expenditure budget is Rs 15,000 crore, then the amount needed to give to contractors for different works in form of advance mobilisation is Rs 3 lakh crore, he claimed.

The former chief minister alleged this is a scam of Rs 3 lakh crore and that the kickback money was being used for the civic polls.

The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls scheduled for January 15.

Uddhav Thackeray alleged that after vote-stealing, the ruling parties are now stealing candidates.

"If the SEC has courage, it should cancel elections where candidates were chosen unopposed, initiate poll process again in those wards," the Sena (UBT) chief said.

The former Maharashtra CM said having candidates chosen unopposed is like denying voters, especially 'GenZ', the chance to exercise their franchise.

MNS head Raj Thackeray, in a warning to the ruling dispensation, said power is not permanent and claimed the BJP was setting a wrong precedent.

The ruling party should not complain when its successors resort to such tactics in a more refined way, he stressed.

The MNS president said the BJP had approached the Supreme Court under similar instances in West Bengal where ruling party candidates were chosen unopposed in local body polls, and sought to know the BJP's stand on it.

Incidentally, the BJP has gone on the offensive on the issue of unopposed victories with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, at a road show in Chandrapur during the day, saying the people's mandate would prevail even if opposition parties went to court.

"They can certainly go to court, but the people's court has elected us. Even if they (opposition parties) move the court, people's mandate will prevail in court," Fadnavis said while questioning the Opposition's silence on unopposed wins of independents and Muslim candidates.

"It is because they can see their defeat clearly and are now trying to find excuses," the chief minister said in Chandrapur.

Uddhav Thackeray also targeted Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, who has been accused of violating the model code of conduct in force for civic polls, interfering in the nomination process and tampering with CCTV footage linked to the exercise.

Narwekar must be suspended immediately because as a speaker he does not belong to any party and has the responsibility to conduct work without any allegiance, Thackeray said, adding he should be booked for violating the poll code.

The BJP MLA from Colaba in south Mumbai has dismissed the charges as baseless and politically motivated.

The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday sought a detailed report from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chief Bhushan Gagrani following allegations by some candidates that returning officers in south Mumbai's Colaba area refused to accept their nomination forms on the last day of the filing process.

An official had said the issue pertains to wards numbered 225, 226 and 227 in the Colaba constituency, where kin of Narwekar are in the fray for the January 15 civic polls.

Rahul Narwekar's brother Makrand Narwekar, sister Gauri Shivalkar and sister-in-law Harshita Shivalkar are contesting the civic polls from wards 225, 226 and 227.

A total of 15,931 candidates are in the fray for polls to 29 municipal corporations on January 15. As per SEC data, a total of 33,247 nominations were filed, of which 24,771 were found valid after scrutiny.

Of those found valid, 8,840 candidates withdrew their nominations till the deadline for the process, which ended at 3pm on Friday.

Elections are being held for 2869 seats spread across 893 wards in these 29 municipal corporations. Except Mumbai, which has 227 seats, the rest are multi-member wards.