As SC nod paves way for Maharashtra local body polls, Fadnavis says Mahayuti will contest in alliance

On the Supreme Court’s direction for holding the local body elections in Maharashtra, with OBC reservation set to the percentage, which existed before the submission of the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission report in July 2022, Fadnavis said, “This means that the reservation of OBC will be retained as it existed and we are happy”.

The chief minister also said the Mahayuti — the alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena-led by Eknath Shinde, and NCP-led by Ajit Pawar — will contest the civic polls in alliance. “As a policy decision, the Mahayuti will contest the civic polls unitedly. There might be small changes in a few places depending upon the situation.”

However, it is not clear what decision will be taken by the Maharashtra Government on the multiward panel system, and the number of seats to be contested in the local bodies polls.

The Maharashtra local body polls were delayed after a petition was filed on the reservation of the OBC category in the elections.

The previous elections to PMC and neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) were held in 2017. The five-year term expired on March 14, 2022, and the civic bodies have been under the rule of appointed administration for the last three years.

“The Supreme Court has issued orders to hold the elections of urban local bodies in the next four months while issuing a notification in the next four weeks,” said Satya Muley, a lawyer representing a petitioner in the case.

Ankush Kakade, spokesperson of NCP (SP), also welcomed the direction of the Supreme Court to hold the Maharashtra civic elections. “In the last few years, the civic elections were not held despite the end of the previous five-year term. Earlier, it was due to COVID, then they got delayed due to cases filed in court challenging the reservations,” said Kakade.

Kakade said the Maharashtra Government should immediately start the process to hold civic polls to ensure they are governed by elected representatives.

State AAP convenor Vijay Kumbhar said the Supreme Court has given a strong decision, and put democracy rights in governance back in place.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said earlier that everyone is concerned about the delay in civic elections. “We want the civic polls to be held as early as possible. The former corporators are keen to get back to work after getting reelected, while many young aspirants are gearing up to make their career in politics by contesting elections,” he had said.