BJP Maharashtra President Ravindra Chavan, third right, and party leaders celebrate victory in the Maharashtra local body elections, at the BJP head office, in Mumbai, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. Photo: PTI
BJP sweeps local body polls; Fadnavis says fought it on 'development plank'
State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal congratulated state poll body for "helping" ruling Mahayuti alliance to win
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday (December 21) said the Mahayuti’s “success” in the municipal council and nagar panchayat polls was a team effort by the BJP organisation and the government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reaffirmed its dominance in Maharashtra politics, when it took a big lead in the elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats (intermediate urban local bodies). The Mahayuti has comfortably crossed the 200-mark, while the NCP has won 16 out of 27 seats in Lonavala.
'Development plank'
“It is a team effort by the organisation and government. We fought the polls on the development plank. I led the campaign on a positive development agenda, and never did I even once criticise any political leader or party,” he said.
Fadnavis said he sought votes on the development agenda, their work so far and their blueprint for the future. The BJP has once again emerged as the “single-largest” party in an election, he added.
Further, he added that so far, around 129 municipal council chairpersons have been elected from the BJP.“ Forty-eight per cent of the members have been elected on the BJP’s symbol. Together, all three alliance parties account for 75 per cent of the city council chairpersons. In terms of corporators, the BJP has created a record: 3300 corporators have been elected. This shows the massive public support we have received. I congratulate our allies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, whose parties have also performed very well. Our performance has matched that of the Assembly elections."
"This result is even better than 2017, and such a victory has not been seen in Maharashtra in the last 30–35 years," he said, pointing out that the BJP’s national leadership has put faith in the state unit.
Counting of votes for the elections to the posts of president and members in 286 municipal councils and nagar panchayats across Maharashtra began at 10 am on Sunday. Initial trends showed the Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Ajit Pawar's NCP and Shinde's Shiv Sena, ahead comfortably.
Congress, SS (UBT) slams EC
State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal congratulated the party candidates who won the posts of municipal president and councillors.
In a terse comment, he "congratulated" the state poll body for "helping" the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the elections. Senior Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve attributed Mahayuti's win to "money and muscle power.
"The Mahayuti has bagged a larger number of seats as compared to constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, thanks to the muscle and money power deployed by the ruling parties," Danve told PTI in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Early lead
Earlier, the saffron party was leading in more than 3,100 seats (out of 6,859 that went to polling), while its allies Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) were leading in 600 and 200 seats, respectively.
Against the Mahayuti Alliance’s dominant show, the Opposition, including the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), and the Congress, took the lead in 145, 122, and 105 seats, respectively.
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Overall, the Mahayuti Alliance was leading in 241 local bodies, while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in only 52.
The two-phase elections were held on December 2 and 20.
Long-awaited local elections
The grassroots elections in Maharashtra were being closely watched since the results would give an indication about the party or alliance that dominates the state’s semi-urban and rural areas.
According to another report, the BJP came up as the single-largest in the local elections, tightening the Mahayuti Alliance’s grip by pocketing 133 of 246 municipal councils announced at the time of filing this report. The saffron party also won a majority of municipal councillor seats.
Mahayuti continues to dominate
These results come just a year after the BJP-led alliance’s big win in the Assembly polls in 2024. According to one political observer, the trend in the latest elections is not surprising since people tend to back the ruling establishment in local polls.
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The results also come ahead of the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections in January 2026.
Opposition showed less coordination
The Opposition, however, was expected to give the Mahayuti Alliance a strong fight in the local body polls, particularly in the context of Maharashtra’s agrarian crises, but their campaign showed a clear lack of coordination as the parties concentrated more on their own turf.
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With the Mahayuti, the scenario was completely different, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies putting up a comprehensive show to reach out to the voters. There were also incidents of friction within the ruling alliance, with the BJP being accused of showing a big-brotherly attitude. But eventually, the alliance overrode all the odds to come out with flying colours.
(With agency inputs)