Maharashtra local body polls to commence on December 2

Elections to all 29 Municipal Corporations, 247 Municipal Councils, 42 Nagar Panchayats out of 147 Nagar Panchayats, 32 Zilla Parishads out of 34 Zilla Parishads and 336 Panchayat Samitis out of 351 Panchayat Samitis are due in Maharashtra. Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats are semi-urban and semi-rural areas, with population ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 and 10,000 to 20,000, respectively.

About 1.07 crore voters — 53.79 lakh male, 53.22 lakh female, and 775 transgender voters — will participate in this phase of polling, for which the enrolment date has been fixed as July 1. This means that voters who have registered till July 1 this year will be able to exercise their franchise.

The SEC had written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking voters’ list updated till October 15, following a meeting of the Opposition parties who alleged about duplicate voters and demanded that voter enrollment should be held till November 7.

“We have yet not received any response from the ECI. We are going ahead with July 1 as the cut-off date. If we get a response, the updated voters’ list might be considered for the next phase of polls,” said Waghmare. The elections will be conducted using electronic voting machines (EVMs), Waghmare said and added that VVPATs will not be used in the local body polls.

Voter duplication

Asked about the Opposition allegation on duplicate voters, Waghmare said, “A tool has been developed (by the SEC) where probable duplicate voters are being shown with double stars on the list. Wherever such a double star is seen, officials concerned will reach out to them to take information about where the voter will be voting.”

“Probable duplicate voters who don’t respond to the officials when contacted will be flagged at all voting centres, and when the voter shows up, an undertaking will be obtained that the person will vote only once,” he added.

Code of conduct

With the announcement of elections, model code of conduct will be applicable to the areas where voting is to be held. “However, any announcement from outside these areas, which will impact the place of voting, will be considered as a breach of the model code of conduct,” he said.

Amid speculations over the winter session of the state legislature, sources within the SEC said that there is no prohibition to hold the session. “Conducting the winter session of the state legislature is a prerogative of the state government. However, no policy decision can be announced,” the officer said.

Nominations

The filing of nominations will start on November 10, and the last date for filing will be November 17. The nominations will be scrutinised on November 18, and can be withdrawn without appeal by November 20 and with appeal till November 25.

Out of the 246 municipal councils in the state, 10 have been newly formed. The terms of all the other 236 municipal councils have expired. Out of the 42 nagar panchayats, 15 are newly formed, while the terms of the remaining 27 have already expired.

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