Mumbai

Voting began on Thursday morning for elections to 12 Maharashtra legislative council seats from local authorities' constituencies, with the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance seeking to consolidate its position after already securing five seats unopposed.

Polling commenced at 8 am and will continue till 4 pm. Members of local self-government bodies, including municipal corporations, municipal councils and zilla parishads, are eligible to cast their votes.

Although elections were notified for 17 seats, contests are being held in 12 constituencies as candidates of the ruling alliance have already been elected unopposed in five seats.

The Mahayuti alliance comprises the BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawar-led NCP. It has already secured uncontested victories for BJP's Arun Lakhani from the Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli constituency, NCP nominees Vikram Kakade from Pune and Aniket Tatkare from Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Shiv Sena candidates Ravindra Phatak from Thane and Dushyant Chaturvedi from Yavatmal.

With these seats in its pocket, the Mahayuti focused on the remaining 12 constituencies and hopes to prevent the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from gaining ground.

The Satara-Sangli constituency has emerged as one of the closely watched contests. The BJP has fielded Dhairyasheel Kadam, while the Opposition NCP (SP) nominated Abhaysinh Jagtap.

It witnessed unease within the ruling alliance after sections of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena expressed reservations over the seat-sharing arrangement. Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai had stayed away from a Mahayuti coordination meeting linked to the election and later said he repeatedly attempted to coordinate among alliance partners during municipal and district council elections, but did not receive cooperation from BJP ministers.

Speculation over a split in alliance votes eased after Shiv Sena rebel Tanajirao Patil withdrew from the contest, resulting in a direct fight between Kadam and Jagtap.

In the Amravati constituency, Congress candidate Harshjit Deshmukh cited health reasons for his withdrawal, while senior Congress leader Yashomati Thakur alleged he had been "managed" by rival parties. The Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi also appeared divided over support for VBA candidate Neelesh Vishwakarma.

Nashik presented another challenge for the ruling alliance after BJP leader Gokul Gite entered the fray as an Independent against Mahayuti's official nominee Narendra Darade of the Shiv Sena.

The development prompted intervention by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BJP minister Girish Mahajan, Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant and other senior leaders. Mahajan held several rounds of discussions with the rebel camp in Nashik and Mumbai.

The efforts resulted in Gite halting his campaign after talks with senior leaders, although his name remained on the ballot as the deadline for withdrawal had expired.

The ruling alliance also benefited from withdrawals by Opposition candidates in several constituencies. Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Bal Mane withdrew from the Konkan constituency, while NCP (SP) nominee Shrikant Patil withdrew in Pune, paving the way for Vikram Kakade's unopposed victory.

Similarly, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Deoyani Patil Dongaonkar withdrew from the Aurangabad-Jalna constituency. Congress candidates Shailesh Agrawal and Sahebrao Kamble also withdrew from the Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli and Yavatmal constituencies, respectively, contributing to Mahayuti's uncontested victories.

The Opposition has alleged that money power and political pressure played a role in securing the withdrawals, a charge rejected by leaders of the ruling alliance.

In Nanded, three candidates are in the fray from the local authorities constituency. A total of 452 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. The electorate comprises members of the Nanded-Waghala City Municipal Corporation as well as presidents and members of municipal councils and nagar panchayats across the district.

BJP candidate Basavaraj Patil Murumkar and Congress nominee Mahesh Deshmukh are contesting the Osmanabad-Latur-Beed constituency, where 367 voters are eligible to cast their votes.

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Counting of votes is scheduled for June 22.