The Bombay High Court (HC) has begun examining whether voters can be denied the ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option in local body elections where candidates are declared elected unopposed, a question that goes to the heart of voter dissent and electoral fairness.
A division bench on Tuesday directed petitioner Suhas Wankhede, a resident of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, to submit short written notes and submissions in support of his public interest litigation (PIL) seeking proper enforcement of NOTA in unopposed elections. The Court asked that the notes be filed by the next hearing scheduled for 27 January 2026.
Mr Wankhede’s plea challenges the practice of the Maharashtra state election commission (SEC) declaring candidates elected uncontested without holding an actual poll. According to the petition, this approach effectively extinguishes a voter’s right to reject a candidate through NOTA, even though the option exists on ballot papers.
The PIL argues that by mechanically declaring uncontested winners, the SEC is undermining the constitutional principles of equality and free and fair elections. “Such unequal treatment, based purely on the accident of contest rather than any rational principle, is arbitrary,” the petition states, adding that voter dissent is most crucial precisely in cases where there is only one candidate.
Citing a 2004 Supreme Court judgement recognising the voter’s right to dissent and a 2018 SEC order that treated NOTA as a 'fictional electoral candidate' in urban local body elections, Mr Wankhede contends that an actual poll must be conducted even if there is only one valid candidate in the fray.
As per the SEC’s own 2018 directions, if NOTA secures more valid votes than any candidate, no one can be declared elected and a fresh election must be held from the nomination stage, the plea points out.
He told the Court that he had written to the SEC after it published the election programme for 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats, which went to polls on 2 December 2025, urging implementation of these principles. However, SEC failed to do so when it later issued a revised election schedule for another set of municipal councils and nagar panchayats, he alleged.
The issue is not limited to the Bombay HC. A similar question is pending before the Supreme Court in a PIL filed by NGO Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, which challenges the direct election of candidates in uncontested Lok Sabha constituencies. During an August 2025 hearing, the apex court had asked the election commission of India (ECI) whether voters could be denied the NOTA option in such situations.
Meanwhile, the SEC has maintained that existing election rules do not permit polling when only one candidate remains after scrutiny and withdrawals. “In such cases, there is no provision for conducting polling, even though the NOTA option exists,” Dinesh Waghmare of the SEC said in a response to media queries, according to
a report from mid-day.
This clarification has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties, including the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) who argue that voters must still be allowed to vote and register dissent through NOTA.
The controversy has intensified amid reports of a growing number of unopposed victories in ongoing municipal elections. According to media reports, around 70 candidates have been elected unopposed so far, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accounting for 44 such wins and the Shiv Sena 22, while the remaining seats went to smaller parties and independents.
MNS leader Avinash Jadhav has separately approached the Bombay HC seeking a court-monitored independent inquiry into what he described as 'mass withdrawals' of candidates ahead of civic polls. His plea alleges coercion, threats and inducements leading to non-contests and seeks a stay on the declaration of results in over 68 seats claimed as unopposed by the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
SEC has said it has sought reports from local officials and ordered inquiries into about 69 unopposed results across 29 municipal corporations to ensure that withdrawals are voluntary. However, Mr Jadhav’s petition claims that returning officers violated SEC directions by declaring results despite pending inquiries.
As the Bombay HC prepares to hear detailed submissions, the outcome could have significant implications for how local body elections are conducted in Maharashtra, particularly on whether the right to vote includes the right to formally reject a lone candidate through NOTA.
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