The ruling Mahayuti alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), achieved a significant milestone by crossing the 200-seat mark in the Maharashtra local body elections. However, this statewide success was marred by a dramatic and embarrassing setback in the Nanded district's Loha municipal council, where the party's high-profile candidate and five of his family members faced a comprehensive defeat.
A Family Strategy Backfires in Loha
The BJP's much-publicized strategy of fielding multiple members from a single family, colloquially dubbed the 'family pack' approach, failed spectacularly in Loha. Gajanan Suryavanshi, the party's candidate for the council president's post, lost the election. His defeat was compounded by the losses of five relatives who were also contesting.
Those defeated included his wife Godavari, brother Sachin, sister-in-law Supriya, brother-in-law Yuvraj Waghmare, and his nephew's wife Reena Vyavhare. The council president's post was clinched by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar. In an interesting coincidence, the NCP's winning candidate is also named Sharad Pawar.
Nanded District: A Mixed Bag for Alliances
The results in Nanded district presented a fragmented picture. While the BJP faced a rout in Loha, it managed to secure victories in other councils. The NCP emerged victorious in four key councils: Loha, Kandhar, Degloor, and Umri. Conversely, the BJP won in Kundalwadi, Mudkhed, and Bhokar.
Other parties also made their presence felt. The Shiv Sena and the Marathwada Janhit Party won two councils each. The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Indian National Congress secured one victory each in the district. Notably, the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP) failed to win any of the municipal councils that went to polls in Nanded.
Election Overview and Political Fallout
The counting of votes for elections to the posts of president and members in 286 municipal councils and nagar panchayats began at 10 am on Sunday, December 21, 2025. These polls were held in two phases on December 2 and December 20 across all six administrative divisions of the state.
A total of 1,07,03,576 voters participated in the democratic exercise. This included 53,79,931 men, 53,22,870 women, and 775 voters from other categories. Voting took place across approximately 13,355 polling stations.
The outcome in Loha has provided ammunition to the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which had previously accused the BJP of promoting "dynastic politics" in these local polls. The defeat of the entire 'family pack' is likely to intensify this criticism and spark internal reviews within the saffron party about its candidate selection strategies in future local elections.
