On Tuesday, voting commenced across 264 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the first phase of local body elections in Maharashtra, with 6,042 seats and 264 posts of council presidents up for grabs. Polling began at 7.30 am and will conclude at 5.30 pm, with votes scheduled to be counted on December 3, officials said.
Nearly one crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in this initial round of the multi-tier rural and urban local body elections, which, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives, must be completed by January 31, 2026.
Elections are being conducted for 264 posts of municipal council presidents and 6,042 seats across various councils and nagar panchayats. Officials stated that 12,316 polling stations have been established, and 62,108 polling personnel have been deployed throughout the state. Comprehensive security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful polling.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has provided a sufficient number of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), including 17,367 control units and 34,734 ballot units, officials added.
The contest has turned multi-dimensional, with the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) directly clashing, amid “friendly fights” within the alliances and subtle attempts at one-upmanship between the BJP and Shiv Sena.
The electoral process for 288 local bodies (nagar panchayats and municipal councils), announced on November 4, has been marred by legal complications and disputes among allies in both the ruling and opposition camps.
The SEC has postponed polling in 24 local bodies to December 20 due to judicial appeals filed against the decisions of Returning Officers after scrutiny of nomination papers.
Separately, owing to pending court cases, elections for 154 seats across 76 municipal councils and nagar panchayats have also been shifted to December 20. These local body elections are being regarded as a significant barometer of political sentiment in Maharashtra, coming just a year after the BJP-led Mahayuti secured 235 out of 288 seats in the state assembly elections.
The polls have already seen considerable political manoeuvring, with the ruling Mahayuti alliance—comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party—taking on the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), and Congress.
While the Opposition concentrated its campaign on local leadership, the BJP gained an early advantage by securing unopposed victories in 100 councillor seats and three municipal president positions.
The Election Commission has implemented a verification system that marks suspected duplicate voters with double stars on voter lists, mandating stringent identity checks at polling booths. It has also launched a mobile application that provides details about candidates and voters, including candidates’ affidavits.
The local body elections are being held in compliance with a Supreme Court directive to complete all pending polls by January 31, 2026. Schedules for the remaining 29 municipal corporations (including Mumbai), 32 Zilla Parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis are yet to be announced.
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