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Journalism of Courage
SIX MONTHS after the Assembly elections, Maharashtra politics remains in a state of churn, with both the ruling and opposition coalitions struggling to contain growing differences. Now come the local polls.
As per an order by the Supreme Court Tuesday, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) must notify the long-awaited elections to local bodies in the state within four weeks, and try and complete the exercise in four months. In appropriate cases, the SEC can seek more time.
The Court also held that OBC reservation for the polls, a contentious issue which led to the delay in conducting the elections, would exist as prior to a 2022 report. That report recommended that the Census fix the exact data on OBCs and, in the meantime, 27% seats be reserved for them in local body polls in Maharashtra.
This clears the way for the Mahayuti government to hold polls to the civic bodies, including municipal corporations such as the BMC, nagar parishads and panchayats, with a 27% quota for OBCs. Coming on top of the recent announcement by the BJP-led government at the Centre for a caste census, this is expected to give the BJP a big boost in the local polls.
It would also consolidate its position in the state vis-a-vis its fractious partner Shiv Sena, which has the highest stakes in the BMC, the cash-rich Mumbai civic body.
In total, elections are to be held for 29 municipal corporations, including newly formed Jalna and Icchalkaranji, 257 nagar parishads, 26 zilla parishads and 289 panchayat samitis. The tenure of a majority of these local bodies got over in 2022-23, with an administrator deputed by the state government running them since then.
The polls were deferred in 2021 due to the Supreme Court directing status quo on OBC reservations in local bodies, which had been ordered by then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government through an ordinance. The Supreme Court had asked the state government to conform to the “triple test” requirement to justify the quota. Which meant setting up a dedicated commission to determine the socio-economic backwardness of OBCs.
The MVA initiated the process, and this was expedited by the Mahayuti government that replaced it (2022-24). However, when it came to holding the polls, the Mahayuti government dragged its feet last year, saying it didn’t want to have elections without the OBC quota issue being resolved and without the finalisation of the delimitation of wards.
This was seen as a calculated move by the BJP to keep its entire machinery focused on the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. The performance jump in the state elections has now prepared the ground for it to take the local polls plunge.
In the last polls held to the state’s 27 municipal corporations – at various times between 2015 and 2018 – the then united Shiv Sena had won 14, including its turf BMC, and the Congress and ally NCP had won 7. The BJP had got 6. The split in the Sena in 2022, with one faction each in the Mahayuti and MVA, means no one can say for sure which way the wind may blow now.
However, the BJP smells a chance in the BMC, given that the Sena split will divide the party’s votes. In 2017, the BJP had inched close to this, finishing just two behind the Sena’s overall tally of 84 wards.
Soon after the Supreme Court announcement Tuesday, Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said the Mahayuti will contest the polls jointly, “except for a few places”.
Going forward, that may not be as easy as Fadnavis made it sound given the one-upmanship plaguing the Mahayuti, and the aggressive bid by the BJP to expand its base. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule has been insistent in the party’s avowed aim of dominating “Parliament to panchayat”.
Sena leader Eknath Shinde, whose “alienation” within the Mahayuti coalition is now open knowledge, is expected to zealously guard its territory, including hometown Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik. NCP leader Ajit Pawar hopes to make deeper inroads in Western Maharashtra, where the NCP(SP) faction and its MVA ally Congress remain strong.
In contrast to the Mahayuti, the MVA parties, battered by their Assembly election loss, were silent Tuesday on whether the coalition would fight jointly.
For Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, in particular, this is a do-or-die battle as the very identity of the party as well as the Thackerays is tied to Mumbai. Party leader Kishori Pednekar, a former Mumbai mayor, asserted her party was ready for the polls.
Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said he welcomed the court ruling, adding: “The state government should not find any escape route to delay the local polls any further.”
