Supriya Sule writes to SEC that BJP is forcing candidates to withdraw from Local Body Polls

Sharad Pawar-led NCP Lok Sabha MP, who represents Baramati in Maharashtra, and the party’s national working president, Supriya Sule, have written to the Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare, alleging that several candidates from non-BJP parties are being forced and intimidated to withdraw from the local civic body election by “vested interests” to ensure “unopposed victories” of BJP candidates.

Tweeting her letter from her official X account on Tuesday, Sule stated that it is a “worrying trend” where candidates are getting “elected unopposed” in the run-up to the local civic body elections after being forced out of the contest through “threats, pressure and coercion”.

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Significantly, Sule wrote to the Maharashtra State Election Commissioner after Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan openly claimed that 100 councillors of the BJP have been “elected unopposed” in municipal councils and town councils across the state in the run-up to local civic body polls scheduled to begin on December 2.

“It has been observed that a very large number of elections are happening unopposed. This has created a situation that is extremely serious and concerning. Additionally, there are reports from many places that pressure is being exerted in some areas, a climate of fear is being created in others, and various anti-democratic tactics are being used in some places. As a result, capable and willing candidates are being deprived of even filing nominations,” Supriya Sule stated in her letter.

“This environment is not only against democratic values but also hinders healthy competition in elections. If there are no options available to the people, the fundamental spirit of local self-governance will weaken, and the goal of decentralisation of democracy will also fail. Therefore, with a very heavy heart, I am writing this letter to you. I humbly request you to pay due attention to this serious matter and take necessary steps,” NCP Lok Sabha MP Sule stated in her letter to Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare.

On Monday, Maharashtra state Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal accused the BJP of “blatantly misusing power” on Monday and called the local civic body elections a “farce” reacting to BJP state president Ravindra Chavan’s statement that 100 BJP councillors have already been “elected unopposed” ahead of the forthcoming local civic body polls.

“They used the term ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar, but are intimidating Opposition candidates in Maharashtra. They have crossed all limits,” Sapkal said.

However, Chief Minister Fadnavis rejected all allegations of coercion as “baseless” and stated that the BJP “believes and strictly adheres to democracy and the election mechanism”. “Getting elected unopposed only demonstrates the people’s trust in the BJP leadership and the party’s development work,” Fadnavis said.

Opposition parties have alleged that the BJP’s tradition of dynastic politics has now reached grassroots-level polls and that pressure was put on the police machinery to ensure unopposed wins for relatives of leaders.

In her letter to the Maharashtra SEC, Supriya Sule requested that authorities ensure that the election process remains “fair and transparent”. “Maharashtra has a strong, inclusive, and dialogue-based democratic tradition. The architect of modern Maharashtra, Yashwantrao Chavan, ensured that the democratic process reached every village through local body elections, enabling new leadership to emerge,” Sule stated, alleging that “greed for power has led to local body polls being increasingly held unopposed”.

She stated that “Threats and intimidation of candidates are extremely serious and completely unacceptable in a democracy. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be happening now. Hence, I have expressed my concern to the Maharashtra State Election Commissioner,” Sule noted, demanding that elections be conducted in a “free and fearless atmosphere to uphold democratic values”.