On December 30, Bala Parab was doing the rounds of neighbourhoods in Maharashtra’s Kalyan West, campaigning for the civic polls being held in the state after a four-year delay, when he got a call from an aide.
Three corporators of the Bharatiya Janata Party had been declared winners in three wards of the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation, even before a single vote had been cast, the aide told Parab, a veteran worker of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
The reason – all the candidates in the fray had withdrawn from the poll that had been scheduled for January 15.
Parab was perturbed. The next day brought worse news.
Six candidates – two from the BJP and four from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena – were declared unopposed victors by the returning officer.
By January 2, that figure had gone up to 20, with 14 BJP candidates and six from Shinde Sena being declared winners. “I have spent 45 years in politics, I have never seen anything like this,” Parab told Scroll.
Across Maharashtra, a similar – and unprecedented – story played out.
Of the 2,869 seats, 69 had been won by January 2 – barring one, all went to the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The BJP was the biggest gainer – 44 of its candidates won...
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