Thane: The Mahayuti alliance partners — BJP and Shiv Sena — have made a strong early impact in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation elections, securing 10 unopposed victories, so far. Of these, six candidates belong to BJP and four to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, giving the ruling alliance a clear initial advantage even before polling.On Thursday, six candidates were declared elected unopposed in Dombivli — two from BJP and four from Shiv Sena. This came a day after three BJP candidates were elected unopposed on Wednesday, taking the total tally to nine in the KDMC.On Thursday, BJP candidate Manda Subhash Patil from Panel 27A was declared elected unopposed after her sole rival, advocate Suvarna Mhatre from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), withdrew her nomination. Mhatre had joined MNS after being denied a ticket by BJP.In Panel 24, which comprises four wards with a total of 16 seats, all Shiv Sena (UBT), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and independent candidates withdrew their nominations, clearing the way for Jyoti Pawan Patil from BJP and Ramesh Mhatre, Vishwanath Rane, and Vrushali Ranjit Joshi from the Shiv Sena to be elected unopposed.In Panel 28A, Shiv Sena’s Harshal More won unopposed after other candidates withdrew their nominations. Harshal is son of Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh More.In the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation elections, BJP candidate Sumit Patil from Panel 17 was elected unopposed. Patil, who is the nephew of former MP Kapil Patil, benefited after three candidates withdrew their nominations and two were disqualified during scrutiny.Earlier, on Wednesday, BJP candidates Rekha Rajan Chaudhary (Ward 18A, Kalyan East), Asavari Kedar Navre (Ward 26C), and Ranjana Mitesh Penkar (Ward 26B) were elected unopposed in KDMC. Independent candidate Gayatri Gavande, who was preparing to contest against Penkar, had her nomination rejected during scrutiny for reasons not officially disclosed, according to election officials.Reacting to the spate of unopposed victories, former MNS MLA from Kalyan Rural, Pramod (Raju) Patil, alleged misuse of power by the ruling alliance. He claimed that candidates were pressured to withdraw through intimidation and the use of money and political influence. Patil also criticised the panel system, alleging it was designed to benefit strong ruling-party candidates and discourage opposition contestants.
