Maharashtra is all set to hold the first phase of the local body polls on Tuesday – the first in over five years – amid infighting within the ruling Mahayuti partners, provocative statements from leaders across parties, and voting being deferred in at least 10% of the poll-bound bodies due to legal challenges.
The first phase of the polls was originally scheduled to be held across 246 municipal councils and 42 municipal panchayats. However, of these municipal councils, voting will be held Tuesday only in 222 bodies. Besides, a total of 154 wards across 76 municipal councils will go to the polls on December 20.
The rescheduling of elections in these bodies by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) came after the current process, especially the allotment of election symbols, was considered by the poll body to be “irregular” due to delayed disposal of candidates’ appeals and subsequent denial of the mandatory withdrawal window.
This has triggered protests from all parties, including the ruling Mahayuti and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which criticised the SEC for postponing these polls just 48 hours before voting.
Expressing displeasure over the poll panel’s move, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the prevalent laws have been “misinterpreted”. “I have no idea which Acts they (SEC) are following. As far as my knowledge goes and according to what lawyers have told me, elections cannot be rescheduled like this,” the CM said in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
State BJP chief Ravindra Chavan even wrote to the SEC, demanding a rollback of the decision and terming it “improper”.
The Congress, too, trained guns on the SEC for “last-minute changes” and alleged that it had failed to conduct free and fair elections. “It seems the SEC is not capable enough to hold elections,” Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal said.
Local body polls in the state have been marred by controversies right from the beginning, and are being held after the Supreme Court, in May, directed the SEC to complete the process before January 31, 2026. The state had not seen local body polls since 2017 mainly due to the controversy over the OBC reservation.
Apart from the Opposition’s allegations over “faulty voter lists and widespread irregularities” in the process, several pleas in the apex court regarding the breach of the 50% quota ceiling had led to delay in the announcement of the polls.
The Supreme Court, while giving its go-ahead for the polls last week, made it clear that the results of the local bodies where the reservation ceiling was breached will be subject to its future verdict in the case.
The SEC is unlikely to proceed in the second phase with elections for zilla parishads and panchayat samitis where the quota ceiling is breached, given that the court has not yet given any directions regarding it.
Friends turn foe
The run-up to the December 2 elections saw strained alliances, splits in them and formation of new ones, and “friendly fights” in multiple bodies cutting across Mahayuti and MVA coalitions across the state.
Mahayuti partners, the BJP and the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, have fielded candidates against each other in many districts including Sindhudurg, Satara, Dharashiv, Palghar and Thane.
On the other hand, the two warring factions of the NCP – one led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and the other by party founder Sharad Pawar – have joined forces in Kolhapur. In few other places, factions of the Congress have joined hands with the BJP.
In many local bodies in Vidarbha, Fadnavis’s home region, the BJP and the Congress are in direct fight with each other. The CM has deployed a team of senior leaders, including state Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, to oversee the BJP’s campaign here.
The BJP has fielded candidates in all 27 cities of the Vidarbha region while the Congress is contesting in 22, and are in a straight fight with the BJP in 18 cities. The Shiv Sena is contesting in 13 cities while the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) is contesting in 8. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has put up candidates in six cities while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is contesting seven, resulting in triangular fights at several places.
High-octane campaign
The countdown to the polls also saw a war of words between the leaders of the BJP and the Sena, prompting Shinde to advise his partners “to follow alliance dharma”. Fadnavis, however, expressed confidence that the Mahayuti will emerge victorious in 70%-75% of the seats.
While the Mahayuti leaders – Fadnavis, Shinde and Ajit – have extensively campaigned in these polls, addressing five-six rallies on a daily basis, only the Congress was seen extensively canvassing from the Opposition side.
While Sapkal campaigned in Vidarbha and Marathwada, other Congress leaders like Satej Patil, Amit Deshmukh and Yashomati Thakur focused on their strongholds of Kolhapur, Latur and Amravati respectively.
While Uddhav and Sharad Pawar chose to stay away from the campaign, the NCP(SP)’s MLA Rohit Pawar and its state party chief Shashikant Shinde restricted their canvassing to their respective turfs.
Box
List of 24 municipal councils where the elections are postponed
Thane- Ambernath
Ahilyanagar- Kopargaon, Devlalipravara, Pathardi and Nevasa
Pune– Baramati and Fursungi- Uruli Devachi
Solapur- Angar and Mangalvedha
Satara- Mahabaleshwar and Phaltan
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar- Phulambri
Nanded- Mukhed and Dharmabad. Latur- Nilanga and Renapur
Hingoli- Basmat
Amravati- Ananjangaon Surji
Akola- Balapur
Yavatmal- Yavatmal
Washim- Washim
Buldhana- Deulgaon Raja
Wardha- Deoli
Chandrapur- Ghugghus