750 Candidates Forfeit Deposits in Pune Municipal Elections; Shiv Sena, AAP Lead Among Major Parties

In the recent Pune Municipal Corporation elections, 750 of the 1,153 candidates had their deposits forfeited, with Shiv Sena candidates topping the list at 87, followed by Aam Aadmi Party with 81 and Congress with 50

Pune| February 23, 2026 : The Pune Municipal Corporation elections, held after a four-year gap in January, saw a total of 1,153 candidates contesting across 163 wards. Following the declaration of results on January 16, it was revealed that 750 candidates lost their deposits for failing to secure the minimum required votes. Among major political parties, 87 Shiv Sena candidates, 81 from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and 50 from Congress had their deposits forfeited. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won 119 seats, saw four candidates lose deposits, all from Ward No. 19 (Kondala Khurd – Kausar Baug), a predominantly Muslim area where all winning candidates were Muslim.

The process for deposit forfeiture follows election rules where candidates must secure at least one-sixth of the average votes polled in their ward. General category candidates had to submit ₹5,000, while reserved category candidates submitted ₹2,500 along with their nomination. Among the remaining 422 candidates, the majority were independents or from smaller parties such as Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Bahujan Samaj Party.

Shiv Sena had contested 120 wards but failed to win any, resulting in 87 forfeited deposits. Similarly, the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena contested 62 wards with 42 deposit forfeitures, while the Congress contested 92 wards, losing deposits in 50. AAP contested 81 wards, and all its candidates forfeited deposits. Other smaller parties and independent candidates accounted for the remaining forfeitures, highlighting the intense competition and concentration of votes among leading parties in Pune’s civic elections.

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