Overview
- Election officials reported wide-ranging nomination rejections across cities, including 131 in Pune’s PMC, 117 in Navi Mumbai, and 77 in Bhiwandi, with multiple BMC filings tossed for incomplete documents or missing caste certificates.
- Six BJP candidates were declared elected unopposed after scrutiny, with three wins in Kalyan-Dombivli, one in Panvel, and two in Dhule, largely following rival nominations being rejected or absent in reserved wards.
- The Mahayuti’s seat-sharing collapsed in roughly 24 of 29 corporations, producing multi-cornered contests, while the two NCP factions coordinated in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad despite state-level rivalry.
- Procedural chaos over party ‘AB’ forms forced three BJP and two Shinde Sena candidates in Pimpri-Chinchwad’s Ward 24 to run as independents, and Pune officials confirmed a case where a Shiv Sena candidate allegedly snatched and swallowed a rival’s authorisation letter.
- Opposition leaders alleged bias by returning officers in Thane’s Wagle Estate wards, protests flared among BJP cadres in Nashik over ticket distribution, and final candidate lists await the Jan 2 withdrawal and Jan 3 publication deadlines.