Shiv Sena's Ravindra Phatak elected unopposed to legislative council from Thane
Shiv Sena candidate Ravindra Phatak was elected unopposed to the Maharashtra legislative council from the Thane local bodies constituency on Thursday. Phatak was one of six ruling Mahayuti alliance candidates who secured uncontested victories after several opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates withdrew their nominations on the final deadline day.
The development triggered sharp reactions from the opposition MVA coalition, which alleged horse-trading and multi-crore bribery by the ruling alliance. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT) expelled multiple candidates who withdrew from the contest against party orders.
Alongside Phatak in Thane, five other Mahayuti candidates won their seats unopposed. These included Arun Lakhani of the BJP from Wardha-Gadchiroli-Chandrapur, Aniket Tatkare of the NCP from Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Vikram Kakade of the NCP from Pune, Prajakt Tanpure of the BJP from Ahilyanagar, and Dushyant Chaturvedi from Yavatmal.
Prior to the withdrawals, BJP state president Ravindra Chavan had expressed confidence on Wednesday that the Mahayuti alliance would win all 17 seats in the legislative council elections.
Congress state chief Harshvardhan Sapkal alleged that the BJP offered crores to opposition candidates to ensure uncontested victories. Sapkal stated that the BJP prefers a "nomination system" rather than an "election system" and had abandoned ethical standards. The Congress had fielded candidates in nine seats, but only four remained in the fray after four withdrew and one was rejected on technical grounds.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) took swift disciplinary action against its rebel candidates. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray ordered the expulsion of Surendranath (Bal) Mane, who withdrew his nomination from the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat. Devyani Dongaonkar and Krishna Dongargaonkar were also expelled for anti-party activities after Dongaonkar withdrew from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna constituency.
Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut confirmed the expulsions on X, stating the actions were taken on the orders of Thackeray. Political observers noted that the last-minute withdrawals suggested some opposition candidates lacked the will to fight or used their nominations to bargain with the ruling alliance.
