Democracy without choice: how unopposed Maharashtra rural polls silence dissent - The HinduUpdated - September 30, 2026 01:11 am IST - PUNE Residents of Angar village in Solapur district haven’t cast ballots in panchayat polls for 60 years. | Photo Credit: Special ArrangementAmid ongoing debates over the special intensive revision (SIR) drive by the Election Commission, name deletions, and electoral transparency, a quiet disenfranchisement persists at the grassroots level in Maharashtra -- where some local panchayats have not held elections for as long as 70 years. In these villages, the local leadership ensures that all members of the gram panchayat are chosen “unopposed”, bypassing the ballot box entirely.In Angar town of Solapur district, a gram panchayat election hasn’t been held in 60 years. Even when the village was upgraded to a nagar panchayat last year due to population growth, leadership remained uncontested.“We don’t have local elections; our people only vote for the Assembly and Lok Sabha. We have stood united for all these years, and people have faith in our family,” said former MLA Rajan Patil, whose family has controlled local politics for generations.Over the decades, the politically versatile family has transitioned through the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, and currently, the BJP.Succeeding his late father Baburao, Mr. Rajan Patil now shares political power with his sons, Ajinkya and Vikrant, while his daughter-in-law, Prajakta, was elected unopposed as the nagar panchayat’s first president last year.However, the transition stirred controversy after opponents alleged that aspiring candidates were threatened and pressured not to run, accusations the Patils strongly deny.Unopposed cultureThis culture of unopposed elections has taken root in hundreds of villages across Maharashtra. Mr. Rajan Patil defends the practice, arguing that competitive elections divide communities, waste money, and hinder development.A similar dynamic unfolds in Perid village in Kolhapur district. With a population of about 3,000, Perid has not held a contested gram panchayat election since 1956, leaving the local Patil family in charge.“This is our tradition, where all villagers come together and decide who should be the member of the gram panchayat. In the last election, one person went against this tradition and an election was held for one of the nine seats, but he didn’t even turn up to vote,” says deputy sarpanch Shivaji Patil.He added that this unopposed election culture extends beyond village politics to local milk societies and other cooperative bodies.Explaining the origins of this culture, Mr. Shivaji Patil said that to prevent bitterness in village communities that arise from political feuds tearing apart families and social bonds, their forefathers decided to opt for this model of unopposed polls. This tradition has been preserved by numerous communities now celebrated as model villages for water conservation and rural development. Among them are Padma Bhushan social activist Anna Hazare’s Ralegan Siddhi and Padma Shri awardee Popatrao Pawar’s Hiware Bazar in the Ahilyanagar district.Voices of dissent Mr. Popatrao Pawar has long insisted that village decisions be made unopposedly in the gram sabha so that the community acts as a united front.However, voices of dissent have emerged in recent years across many villages, including Hiware Bazar and Ralegan Siddhi. While panels backed by Mr. Hazare and Mr. Pawar won the 2021 elections, opposition panels still contested, breaking the streak of complete unanimity.Kolhapur-based political analyst Dr. Ashok Chousalkar noted that the concept of unopposed panchayat elections is not new, nor is it necessarily a healthy sign of democracy. He pointed out that Maharashtra’s cooperative sector, particularly sugar cooperatives, adopted this culture to suppress dissenting voices.“Of course, there are some villages where all residents are taken into confidence for unopposed elections, but these are rare cases,” he said. “In the majority of villages, the dominant political family makes the decisions and uses its full power to suppress any opposition,” Dr. Chousalkar added.Marginalised in politicsAlka Kamble, former sarpanch of Waghapur-Lasina in the Vidarbha region’s Yavatmal district, argued that marginalised communities suffer the most under this culture of unopposed politics.Village bigwigs generally manage unopposed elections by selecting compliant members who offer no opposition. When seats are reserved for women, particularly Dalit and other backward class women, active women are completely sidelined in favour of candidates who will not raise their voices.“I have been demanding that if we go for unopposed elections in our village, the decision must not be imposed by bigwigs in the village. It should be unanimous” Ms. Kamble said.Published - September 29, 2026 11:38 pm ISTSign in to unlock member-only benefits!Access 10 free stories every monthSave stories to read laterAccess to comment on every storySign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single clickGet notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products${ ind + 1 } ${ device }Last active - ${ la }