Maharashtra local bodies to go to polls in phases, process to start after Diwali: official

The much-awaited elections to local bodies in Maharashtra will be held in phases, with the electoral process expected to begin after Diwali, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said on Tuesday.

He said a lottery method will be adopted for OBCs, while the reservation for SC and ST communities will remain fixed.

Polls for zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, nagar parishads and municipal corporations are due since 2017.

A day before, the Supreme Court passed an order that paved the way for holding elections to local bodies with a 27 per cent quota for OBCs and according to the 2017 ward boundaries.

''The election process for local self-government bodies will begin post-Diwali, that is, after the end of October,'' Waghmare told reporters in Nashik after holding a review meeting on poll preparedness in the region.

He stated that the Supreme Court has directed that the elections be conducted within four months, and accordingly, polls to municipal corporations, zilla parishads, and municipal councils will be held in phases.

''I am not announcing the dates, but we will ensure that the process to hold the elections to the local autonomous bodies (LABs) will tentatively begin from the end of October, post Diwali, in a staggered manner. Holding all elections simultaneously would lead to a major human resource constraint; hence, we will adopt a phased approach,'' Waghmare said.

He said the sequence will be decided later. The poll process will be completed by December end or mid-January 2026.

Waghmare said around 8,705 control units and more than 17,000 voting machines will be required for the election process. He clarified that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will not be used in the upcoming local body elections.

While the reservation for SC and ST categories is fixed, a lottery method will be followed for OBCs following the Supreme Court ruling.

''The same principle was applied in the previous elections and will be continued this time as well,'' he added.

Waghmare said the elections will be conducted based on the voters' list as of July 1, 2025. Work is already underway on finalising ward boundaries, he said, adding that preparations regarding personnel and technical infrastructure were also reviewed during the meeting.

He said the Nashik division has 50.45 lakh voters and 4,982 polling stations.

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