Power Play In Maharashtra: BJP Emerges As Single-Largest Party In Local Body Polls; CM Thanks People For Decisive Victory

Mumbai: In what may be termed as a historic feat, the ruling Mahayuti alliance registered a decisive victory in the Maharashtra local bodies and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dominated the elections to municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Maharashtra by emerging as the single largest party by a wide margin on Sunday (December 21, 2025). 

The saffron party achieved the historic win by winning 129 seats. Praising the outcome, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, drawing a parallel to 2017 polls stated 129 BJP candidates have been elected as municipal presidents and this his number is way ahead of the 2017 polls, where the BJP had secured 95 seats.

Calling the results a “trailer', the CM added the local body poll should be seen as a preview of what lies ahead in the upcoming municipal corporation elections. Fadnavis also appealed to the workers to "get to work with full vigor to achieve even greater success than this feat.

BJP Single-Largest Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set a record in local body polls with 48 per cent of councillors winning on the party symbol, and its candidates elected as presidents in 129 municipal councils. 

In the multi-dimensional contests, all three alliance parties (Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) accounted for 75% of the city council chairpersons and in terms of corporators, over 3300 candidates of the BJP have been elected, according to Fadnavis.

Meanwhile, accusing the election commission of "facilitating" the victory of the ruling Mahayuti, the opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) virtually conceded defeat in the elections.

Who Won And Who Lost

After the local body elections results, state minister Shivendrasinh Bhosale claimed that BJP candidate Amol Mohite was elected municipal president in Satara district by 42,000 votes, an outcome that even surpassed the vote margins typically seen in assembly elections.

Mahayuti had registered a clean sweep in Khed municipal council in Ratnagiri district by winning all 21 seats, including 17 seats won by Shiv Sena.

The BJP has won the president's post in four out of five local bodies in Udgir, Ahmedpur, Nilanga, and Renapur in Latur district, while its ally NCP bagged the seat in Ausa.

In the Beed district, the Mahayuti combine took a decisive lead.

Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP 

Meanwhile, Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) claimed they had retained their party bastions in Chandrapur and Sangli districts.

The Congress won the municipal council president's post as well as 21 of the 23 seats in the Brahmapuri municipal council in Chandrapur district whereas the BJP and NCP have secured one seat each.

NCP (SP) has won 23 seats as well as the post of council president in the Urun-Ishwarpur municipal council in Sangli district.

BJP bagged the president's posts in Jawhar municipal council and Wada Nagar Panchayat whereas Shiv Sena won the president's election in the municipal councils of Palghar and Dahanu.

Setback For BJP

In a mini setback for BJP, the party candidate for the post of Loha municipal council president, Gajanan Suryavanshi, and his five kin lost.

The post was won by Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, whose candidate, incidentally, is named Sharad Pawar.

Results for 288 Maharashtra Nagar Parishad and panchayat seats were declared today where BJP had emerged ahead in 129 municipal councils, compared to 94 in the 2017 elections. The elections were conducted in two phases with some councils going to polls on December 2, and others conducting polls on December 20.

The local body elections also signal a run-up to the much awaited political contest set to happen in January 15, when multiple Municipal Corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Pune Municipal Corporations, and multiple other local body polls will be held. 

The vote counting for BMC and other bodies is set to happen on January 15, with counting to happen on January 16.

Also Read: Mahayuti Dominates Maharashtra Local Body Polls, BJP Emerges Single-Largest Party; Opposition Blames EC