07 January,2026 08:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Sanjeev Shivadekar
Parties have maintained that voters should be allowed to exercise their right to vote. Representation pic/PTI
The State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday clarified that polling will not be conducted in wards where only one candidate remains in the fray, even though the None of the Above (NOTA) option exists on ballot papers.
The SEC said election rules do not provide for polling when only one candidate remains after the scrutiny of nomination papers and the withdrawal of other candidates. This effectively shuts the door on demands for voting in single-candidate wards, despite the presence of the NOTA option on ballot papers.
Several political parties, most notably the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, have argued that elections should still be held even if only one valid nomination remains. They have maintained that voters should be allowed to exercise their right to vote through the NOTA option rather than seeing candidates declared elected unopposed.
However, when mid-day sought clarification from the SEC, the commission ruled out any such possibility. "In such cases, there is no provision for conducting polling, even though the NOTA option exists," said Dinesh Waghmare of the State Election Commission, replying to a text message.
On Monday, MNS leader Avinash Jadhav met officials of the State Election Commission and also filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, challenging the validity of unopposed victories. Earlier, on Saturday, the SEC had sought a detailed report on all instances of candidates being elected unopposed in the ongoing municipal elections across Maharashtra.
While the MNS has challenged the election of 66 unopposed candidates, the SEC said it does not yet have a consolidated final count. However, inputs from political parties and media organisations indicate that around 70 candidates have been elected unopposed so far.
According to available data, the Bharatiya Janata Party leads the tally with 44 unopposed winners, followed by the Shiv Sena with 22. The Nationalist Congress Party has two such candidates, while two others belong to smaller parties or are independents.
https://www.mid-day.com/bmc-election/
https://www.mid-day.com/bmc-election/know-your-ward
