Normalising Unopposed Elections a Threat to Democracy, Says Adv Asim Sarode

Pune, 9th January 2026: Advocate Asim Sarode has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is pursuing a “hidden agenda” to normalise large-scale unopposed elections, beginning with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls and eventually extending the same model to Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a joint press conference organised by the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction and the Congress at Congress Bhavan, Sarode said the strategy allegedly involves ensuring that a significant number of candidates are elected unopposed in civic elections and then assessing public and judicial responses. If the exercise succeeds, he claimed, the same approach could be replicated in future state and national elections. Shiv Sena (UBT) vice-president Ajit Darekar and general secretary Prachi Dudane were also present.

Sarode warned that the growing trend of unopposed elections poses a serious threat to democratic processes. While such elections may be acceptable as rare exceptions, he said they cannot be allowed to become the norm. He pointed out that in more than 70 years of parliamentary democracy, only about 30 to 32 Members of Parliament have been elected unopposed, whereas municipal elections in Maharashtra are now witnessing an unprecedented number of such cases.

Questioning this pattern, Sarode said it was suspicious that candidates from the ruling party were consistently being elected unopposed, while nominees from certain other parties were withdrawing from the contest. This, he argued, has pushed the issue of unopposed elections into controversy.

He also informed that a writ petition challenging unopposed elections in the state has been filed in the Bombay High Court by Sameer Gandhi through him, seeking judicial scrutiny of the matter.