Mumbai, Dec 2 ( LatestNewsX ) – The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) convened an online meeting of 29 municipal commissioners on Tuesday to assess the readiness of municipal elections that could take place before polls are held in rural Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis.
A video‑conference with all Municipal Commissioners is set for December 4 to tackle the remaining issues.
Last week the Supreme Court cleared the SEC to conduct local‑body polls in the state but left out a clear procedure for rural institutions where the 50 percent reservation threshold has been surpassed. In Maharashtra, 17 of 32 Zilla Parishads and 88 of 336 Panchayat Samitis have exceeded that limit, whereas all 29 municipal corporations have received approval to vote, even though Nagpur and Chandrapur have only just crossed the 50 percent mark.
“The SEC is mulling whether to take a safe route where clear direction has been given regarding urban local bodies. As per the initial plan, municipal corporation polls were to be held in the third and last phase of local body polls. But now that the apex court has clearly given the go‑ahead to election in all urban bodies, the process can be initiated,” a senior SEC official said.
Under the revised urban timetable, the deadline for submitting objections to the voters’ list for municipal corporations has been pushed from November 27 to December 3, and the deadline for publishing the final list has moved from December 5 to December 10.
“Once the final voters list is announced, the SEC can announce the election anytime. Therefore, the meeting with Municipal Commissioners is being held on December 4, a day after the deadline for submitting objections. It will give clear idea as to how to move further,” the officer added.
He also noted that elections should be held only in bodies that have not surpassed the 50 percent reservation limit.
“In 17 Zilla Parishads and 88 Panchayat Samitis, the reservation stands above 50 per cent. We have not yet decided on that issue. Holding rest of the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis election now would keep the fate of others hanging,” he said, adding that the SEC may prefer to hold urban local‑body polls earlier than the others.
Out of 34 Zilla Parishads, two—Bhandara and Gondia—lack administrators; their terms expire in May 2027. Among the 351 Panchayat Samitis, 336 are administered and were due for elections.
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