Hundreds, including candidates of major parties, fail to save election deposits

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) election proved to be not merely a struggle for power, but a decisive test of the candidate selection strategies of all major political parties. In this political battlefield, voters delivered a direct verdict, holding up a mirror to several parties, as reflected clearly in the results. The biggest setback was suffered by the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction). Of the 78 candidates it fielded, as many as 74 failed even to save their election deposits. Voters similarly rejected candidates from other political parties. Independents also tasted complete defeat.

Most parties presented organisational calculations, internal factionalism and candidates imposed from the top to the electorate. As a result, despite contesting on party symbols, many candidates failed to earn voters’ trust. This directly points to the failure of local party leadership. The miserable performance of independent candidates and the response received by the ‘NOTA’ option further highlighted voters’ growing discontent.

Consequently, candidates from the NCP (Ajit Pawar), NCP (Sharad Pawar), Congress, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Uddhav Sena, Shinde Sena, BJP and AIMIM also suffered significant losses. The large-scale forfeiture of election deposits reflects voter anger and stands as a municipal election verdict that has placed restraints on party arrogance.

592 of 974 candidates forfeit their deposits

In this municipal election, candidates from various political parties as well as independents tried their luck. Out of a total of 974 candidates, 592 forfeited their election deposits.

A time for introspection for NCP (Ajit Pawar)

In this election, 74 out of the 78 candidates fielded by the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) forfeited their deposits. This figure raises serious questions about the party’s grassroots presence, organisational strength and criteria for candidate selection at the local level.

National parties also suffer a setback

The Congress saw 56 of its 71 candidates forfeit their deposits, while 15 BJP candidates also faced the same fate. Similarly, 48 candidates from the Uddhav Sena and 37 from the Shinde Sena failed to save their deposits. Despite power, organisation and campaigning, these parties failed to gain voters’ confidence, as revealed by the election outcome.

Limits of VBA and AIMIM exposed

Of the 62 candidates fielded by the VBA, 45 forfeited their deposits, while 7 out of 49 AIMIM candidates met the same fate. However, both parties did demonstrate influence in certain prabhags.

Complete failure of independent candidates

Independent candidates fared the worst in this election. Of the 213 independent candidates, 210 forfeited their deposits. Notably, in the previous election (2015), as many as 18 corporators had entered the municipal house as independents. However, in the 2026 election, not a single independent candidate managed to make an impact.

The ‘NOTA’ warning

In this municipal battle, as many as 65,877 voters opted for NOTA. This figure reflects voter dissatisfaction with candidates, a lack of viable alternatives and growing apathy towards party politics.

Decimation of smaller parties

All candidates fielded by parties such as the BSP, RSP, AAP, Samajwadi Party, Republican Sena, RPI (D) and others forfeited their deposits. The election results once again highlighted the limitations of these parties in municipal corporation politics.

Party-wise candidates who forfeited deposits

Party

Seats Contested

Deposits Forfeited

NCP (Ajit Pawar)

78

74

NCP (Sharad Pawar)

22

20

Congress

71

56

VBA

62

45

Uddhav Sena

96

48

Shinde Sena

96

37

AIMIM

49

7

BJP

92

15

Independents

213

210