Maharashtra local body polls could be held by year-end; ward formation process begins

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Election Commission has begun the process of ward formation in connection with local body polls after the Supreme Court's order earlier this month.

Local body polls could be held by the end of the year once various formalities are completed, a top official said on Monday.

On May 6, the apex court paved the way for Maharashtra local body polls, which were stalled for more than five years due to the OBC reservation issue, ordering the state election panel to notify it in four weeks.

"The process of ward formation will take about 70 days. It will be followed by reservations, which will take another 15 days. The process of updating electoral rolls will take another 40 days. The local body elections can be held by the end of this year," state election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare told PTI.

The tenure of all 29 municipal corporations, 248 Nagar Parishads, 42 Nagar Panchayats, 32 Zilla Parishads and 336 Panchayat Samitis has expired, and these are currently under administrators. The term of 27 municipal corporations ended between 2020-2023. Ichalkaranji and Jalna are newly created municipal corporations.

"The elections were delayed for several reasons, including petitions regarding OBC reservation, ward formation, number of members in local bodies, power of ward formation taken by the government," Waghmare said.

On May 6, the Supreme Court directed the Maharashtra state election commission to notify elections in four weeks.

The contentious issue of OBC reservation will be as it existed before the 2022 Banthia Commission report.

The top court accepted the commission's report recommending a census to fix exact data on OBCs and reserve 27 per cent of seats for the category in local bodies.

The Banthia Commission was set up in March 2022 to examine the issue of OBC reservation in local bodies. It recommended 27 per cent reservation for OBCs within the 50 per cent reservation ceiling.

Speaking about Mumbai, Waghmare said elections for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation would be for the existing 227 seats and not 236 as was decided earlier.

In the local polls, the Mahayuti alliance, which swept the assembly polls in November last year, will face the challenge of maintaining its dominance over the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and the MVA, which has the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress as constituents, also have to decide on whether to fight alone or as part of respective groups.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Mahayuti, as a policy, will fight the local bodies together. However, they can contest separately in some places, he had added.

In the MVA, Congress has left the decision to the local leadership, while Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has said he is speaking to his cadre on the strategy for the local body polls.

NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil has also asked his party unit to prepare for the local elections.

These polls are being seen as "mini Vidhan Sabha" by observers.