Maharashtra Local Body Elections 2025: Voting Begins For 242 Councils, 46 Nagar Panchayats

Maharashtra will go to the polls on December 2, Tuesday, for local body elections, with voting scheduled in 242 municipal councils and 46 nagar panchayats, marking the first phase of a three-tier process mandated by the Supreme Court, according to PTI.

Elections in certain local bodies across Thane, Pune and Ahilyanagar districts have been deferred to December 20 following judicial appeals against decisions of Returning Officers after scrutiny of nomination papers. Reported PTI, the State Election Commission (SEC) said the postponement was necessary due to irregularities observed in the election process, including issues with the timeline for withdrawal of nominations and allocation of election symbols.

The SEC noted that in several cases, appeal verdicts from District Courts were delivered after November 22, or candidates did not receive the mandatory three-day period to withdraw nominations as per Rule 17(1)(b) of the Maharashtra Municipalities Election Rules, 1966. Consequently, the allocation of election symbols on or after November 26 by returning officers in these cases was deemed illegal.

"The subsequent action of allocating election symbols on or after November 26 by returning officers was deemed illegal in these cases," the SEC said. The stay applies specifically to member seats for which appeals were filed, and the new schedule covers seats and president posts where court verdicts were issued on or after November 23.

Campaigning for the polls will end at 10 pm on Monday, with no poll advertisements allowed on voting day. Political parties and candidates will be barred from rallies, marches or use of loudspeakers once campaigning concludes, the SEC added. Citing the 'Media Regulation and Advertisement Certification Order, 2025' issued on October 9, the commission emphasised that print, electronic, and social media advertisements are prohibited on December 2.

These elections are being closely watched as a test of political sentiment following the BJP-led Mahayuti’s decisive victory in the November 2024 assembly elections, where it secured 235 out of 288 seats, PTI reported. Analysts suggest the local body outcomes will indicate whether this momentum carries over to grassroots governance or if opposition consolidation can challenge the ruling coalition at municipal levels.

Votes will be counted on December 3. A total of 6,859 members and 288 presidents will be elected across these local bodies, with over 1.07 crore eligible voters casting ballots at 13,355 polling stations. Electronic Voting Machines will be deployed throughout, supported by more than 66,000 staff members.

"Of the total seats, 3,492 are reserved for women, 895 for Scheduled Castes, 338 for Scheduled Tribes, and 1,821 for Other Backward Classes. The expenditure limit for candidates has been set at Rs 15 lakh for the post of president and Rs 12 lakh for post of member. The SEC received more than 51,000 nominations," an official said.

Among the 246 municipal councils, 10 are newly formed, while 15 of the 42 nagar panchayats going to polls are newly constituted. Regionally, 27 councils are in Konkan, 59 in Nashik division, 60 in Pune division, and 55 in Nagpur division, making this a geographically diverse exercise spanning urban and semi-urban Maharashtra.

Political manoeuvring has been evident, with the Mahayuti alliance—BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP—competing against the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), and Congress. Reported PTI, the BJP secured 100 councillor and three municipal president positions unopposed, with state unit chief Ravindra Chavan attributing the outcome to public confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

However, the BJP has faced criticism in Nanded’s Loha Nagar Parishad, where local NCP MLA Pratap Patil Chikhalikar questioned the party's decision to field six candidates from the Suryavanshi family, including Gajanand Suryavanshi for chairman, along with his wife, brother, and sister-in-law.

Opposition parties have demanded postponement, citing duplicate and bogus entries in the July 1 voter roll revision. Addressing this, the Election Commission introduced a verification system marking suspected duplicate voters with double stars and enforcing strict identity checks at polling stations. A mobile application providing information about candidates and voters, including affidavits, was launched, and booth-wise voter lists were published on November 7.

The SEC emphasised that these elections are being held under a Supreme Court directive to complete pending polls by January 31, 2026. Schedules for 29 municipal corporations, 32 Zilla Parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis are yet to be announced. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, last held in 2017, are expected around mid-January.

(With inputs from PTI)