Local body polls likely at year-end as SC defers decision on petitions

MUMBAI: As the Supreme Court (SC) deferred the hearing of a slew of petitions related to the local body polls in Maharashtra, on Tuesday, the elections which were expected to be held before the monsoons, are likely to be pushed to the end of the year. According to officials from the state election commission, three to four months are required for the election process to be completed; in the absence of the SC verdict for at least a month, the polls are unlikely to be held before October or November this year.

SC will hear the petitions on February 25.

The petitions are related to the change in the number of wards (made by MVA government under Uddhav Thackeray, and subsequently the government led by Eknath Shinde), multi-ward system, powers of demarcation taken by the government and OBC reservation in 91 nagar panchayats, which have been pending before the SC for over two years. This resulted in all 29 municipal corporations falling vacant for long. In most corporations, the municipal commissioners are acting as administrators.

After its landslide victory in the Assembly polls in November, 2024, the ruling Mahayuti was looking to replicate it in the local body polls in April or May, 2025. That looks bleak now.

A senior official from SEC said, “Before polls are conducted, boundaries of local bodies must be demarcated and voters’ lists published, which takes at least three months. If SC’s verdict comes in the end of February, there would be no time to complete the process before monsoons. Polls are not held during monsoon.”