In a surprising turn of events at the Loha Municipal Council polls in Maharashtra's Nanded district, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced a significant setback as all six candidates they fielded from the same family were defeated. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Ajit Pawar, emerged victorious in Loha, highlighting a shift in the local political landscape.

The BJP's strategy to nominate six members from the Suryawanshi family drew criticism from both the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and their alliance partner, the NCP. The MVA accused the BJP of promoting dynastic politics, a charge often leveled against other parties by the BJP itself.

The candidates who faced defeat included Gajanan Suryawanshi, an influential figure in Loha who was also the BJP's nominee for the municipal president's post. Sharad Pawar from the NCP (Ajit Pawar) won the president's position. Other members of Suryawanshi family who contested and lost were his wife Godavari Suryawanshi, brother Sachin Suryawanshi, sister-in-law Supriya Suryawanshi, brother-in-law Yuvraj Waghmare, and his nephew's wife Reena Vyavhare.

The decision to field so many candidates from a single family sparked controversy ahead of the polls. NCP leader Prataprao Govindrao Chikhalikar suggested that the BJP might have struggled to find suitable candidates from outside the family. The concentration of tickets within one family overshadowed the BJP's campaign, making it a central talking point of the election.

Despite the defeat in Loha, the BJP secured victories in Kundalwadi, Mudkhed, and Bhokar municipal councils in the Nanded district. Meanwhile, the NCP also claimed victory in Kandhar, Degloor, and Umri. The Shiv Sena and Marathwada Janhit Party each won two municipal councils, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress each secured one. Notably, the NCP (Sharad Pawar) did not win any municipal councils in the district.

The Loha Nagar Parishad, comprising 10 wards and 20 corporator seats, witnessed a triangular contest among the BJP, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction, and the Congress. The region holds political importance, with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction wielding influence through local MLA Pratap Patil Chikhlikar.

The outcome in Loha is seen as a symbolic rejection of nepotism by the electorate and an embarrassment for senior BJP leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who has been leading the party's efforts in the Nanded local body polls. While the Mahayuti alliance, with the BJP in the lead, crossed the 200-mark in the state, the Loha result serves as a reminder of the importance of candidate selection and the potential pitfalls of promoting dynastic politics, especially for a party that frequently criticizes it in others.