Maharashtra Local Body Polls To Begin After Diwali, Says State Election Commissioner

The long-pending elections to Maharashtra’s local self-government bodies will commence in a phased manner after Diwali, Dinesh Waghmare, State Election Commissioner, announced on Tuesday. The electoral process will begin by the end of October and is expected to conclude by mid-January 2026.

According to PTI, Waghmare stated that the approach was necessary due to the scale of the elections. The elections will cover municipal corporations, zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, and nagar parishads, polls for which have been pending since 2017.

This announcement follows the Supreme Court’s order permitting the conduct of local body elections with a 27% reservation for Other Backwards Classes (OBCs), based on the 2017 ward boundaries. While SC/ST reservations will remain fixed, the OBC quota will be determined through a lottery system, as was done in previous elections.

The polls will be conducted using the voters’ list as of July 1, 2025. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will not be used. Approximately 8,705 control units and 17,000 voting machines will be required for the process, as reported by PTI.

Waghmare shared these updates during a visit to Nashik, where he reviewed poll preparations, including technical and manpower logistics. Nashik division alone has 50.45 lakh voters and 4,982 polling stations.