Elections for Maharashtra's civic bodies, pending since 2022, will finally be held on January 15. Elections will be held for 29 municipal corporations, 32 district councils, and 336 panchayat samitis. The votes will be counted the next day.
Here are the top 10 points in this big story:
- Politically, elections for the Brihanmumbai Corporation and other major cities like Pune and Thane are considered the most important, since they are expected to determine the political direction of the state.
- The elections are also expected to reflect the mood of the people and the popularity of the ruling coalition.
- The contest for the BMC - controlled earlier by the undivided Shiv Sena -- is intense. The BMC is not just the largest in the country but also the richest in Asia with a budget is larger than the annual budget of several small states.
- This time, though, the BJP is hoping to overtake the Shiv Sena faction of Eknath Shinde BJP and grab the reins of BMC. Asked who would take the Mayor post, Shinde has cautiously responded that the Mayor will belong to the Mahayuti.
- The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has also been in battle mode for the election, which is especially crucial for Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena UBT and the Congress. Given their performance in the last assembly elections, the polls could determine their political future.
- The civic polls have also become the fulcrum on which the Thackeray brothers Uddhav and Raj Thackeray have come together after decades. An announcement of their contesting together, however, is yet to be made.
- The municipal corporation elections in major cities like Mumbai, Pune, and Thane have been pending since 2022 when their terms ended. The delay is owing to legal and administrative disputes related to OBC reservation and ward delimitation.
- The Supreme Court has set a deadline of January 31, for completing all the pending elections.
- Polling for the 264 municipal councils and nagar panchayats of the state was held on December 2. The results of these elections will be declared on December 21.
- Elections were also postponed in about 24 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, with the revised polling date set for December 20. These results will also be declared on December 21.
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