Did BJP Really Win An Entire Nagar Panchayat Before Polling In Maharashtra? Here's All You Need To Know
Pune: Even before the polling for the Maharashtra Local Body Elections begins, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed victory in one of the Municipal Panchayats. With the final day of nomination form submission finishing on Monday, Angar Nagar Panchayat in Solapur District's Mohol Tehsil will have the BJP in power, which is already determined. Out of all 17 seats in the civic body, all BJP candidates will be contesting unopposed.
Only 17 nomination forms have been filed in Angar Nagar Panchayat in the Solapur District. All of them have been filed by candidates belonging to the BJP. Speculations in political circles are fresh, as the opposition in the state has claimed that this is not democracy and that something shady is going on behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, on Monday, after the deadline for the nomination form filling was over, local BJP workers started celebrating by showering gulaal and celebrating enthusiastically. These scenes are usually witnessed after a party wins a particular election, which is determined after the counting of votes. However, this surprised everyone, as the national party started celebrating even before the casting of votes happened.
Angar Nagar Panchayat & Rajan Patil Connection
One name that gained traction online after the celebrations was that of ex-MLA Rajan Patil. For the past several years, the family of Rajan Patil has maintained an undisputed dominance not only in the Mohol Taluka but also in the Angar Gram Panchayat. This is the first time an election is being held here, following the upgrade of the Angar Gram Panchayat to a Nagar Panchayat.
For many years, there was not a single face that could challenge Rajan Patil in this area. Rajan Patil, formerly part of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), recently joined the BJP. Even before Angar was a Nagar Panchayat, the elections used to happen unopposed under the leadership of Patil.
After Rajan Patil joined the BJP, Ajit Pawar has fielded Ujjwala Thite to lead the NCP in the area. Ujjwala Thite had alleged that she was not being allowed to file her nomination form. She claimed that tractors were placed across the road, and there was a plan to attack her family by checking their vehicles.
She claimed Rajan Patil has ruled over this area, and out of their terror, people do such things. Thite filed her nomination for getting elected as the chairman, reportedly by travelling early morning due to fear and safety concerns. The district administration has not yet commented on the allegations.
Even though all the seats for the corporators will be elected unopposed, there will definitely be an election for the municipal panchayat chairman post. Two applications have been received for the chairman's position. For the Chairman, Prajakta Patil, the daughter-in-law of Rajan Patil, will contest from the BJP.
Meanwhile, Ujjwala Thite has filed her application from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. But with all elected corporators being from the BJP, NCP will have to pull a miracle to get their chairman to lead the Nagar Panchayat. Along with every municipal council and municipal panchayat, Angar Nagar Panchayat will have voting on 2nd December and vote counting on 3rd December.
Opposition Cries Foul, Shiv Sena (UBT) Attacks BJP
Opposition attacks began on the BJP on Tuesday morning, accusing the party of dictatorship and killing democracy. Referencing these happenings, the BJP is being targeted for its work across the country. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party leaders have taken to X, formerly Twitter, and targeted the BJP.
Ex-MLA Ambadas Danve said, "The incident at Angar is horrific. Because of the BJP, which fought the Bihar elections using the word ''Jungle Raj', the bugle of 'Jungle Raj' has started sounding in Maharashtra. In a state like Maharashtra, where Rajmata Ahilyadevi Holkar was born, a woman has to go to file her election nomination in the pre-dawn darkness under the protection of armed police. This is the pure degradation of law and order and democracy in Maharashtra by the BJP and its affiliates. It takes true merit and skill from workers to get elections held unopposed. If the workers themselves are not trained or disciplined in their own camp, what relevance does merit have? How the true BJP workers tolerate this, only God knows!”
Meanwhile, Uddhav Sena spokesperson Sushma Andhare, known for her fiery criticisms, has reacted in an unusual manner. “This is not democracy,” said Andhare on X.
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