New Delhi: Maharashtra’s election commission (SEC) has begun preparations for all pending local body polls in anticipation of them being held in September-October this year.
In a notification, the SEC has asked staff to keep the voter list ready by September of all civic bodies, zilla parishads and nagar panchayats where elections are due.
The poll body’s missive comes barely days after a large chunk of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) broke away from the Opposition and joined the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) government.
To the media, the SEC said this was a “routine exercise” they do before every election, adding that no dates had been announced yet.
The Supreme Court in March last year said the state must constitute a dedicated other backward class (OBC) commission in order to implement the OBC quota in local body polls. The matter is still pending in court.
Elections are overdue for nearly a year in 15 corporations in the state.
Political fortunes turned in Maharashtra last June, when present Chief Minister Eknath Shinde rebelled with 40 MLAs in the parent Shiv Sena and toppled the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of the Sena, Congress and NCP.
Shinde then formed the government with support of the BJP, and Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
Barely a week ago, the MVA got another jolt when a majority of the NCP legislators left party founder Sharad Pawar and increased the strength of the BJP-Sena government.
The breakaway faction was led by nephew Ajit Pawar and comprised long-time loyalists and MPs Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare. Ajit Pawar is now the second deputy chief minister of the state.
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