The Maharashtra State Election Commission has begun the ward formation process after the Supreme Court’s order.Maharashtra Local Body Election, stalled for over 5 years, may finally take place by year-end.
After a prolonged delay of over five years, Maharashtra is finally on the road to conducting local body elections by the end of 2025. The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has officially started the process of ward formation following a decisive order by the Supreme Court earlier this month.
Supreme Court Clears the Deck for Elections
On May 6, the apex court directed the SEC to issue a notification for local body elections within four weeks. This landmark directive came after years of delay primarily due to legal and administrative hurdles linked to OBC reservations.
State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare confirmed that the ward formation process has commenced and will take approximately 70 days. Following that, the reservation process will require 15 more days, and the updating of electoral rolls will take another 40 days, making it likely for polls to be held by the end of this year.
“The process is well underway, and if all goes as planned, Maharashtra will witness local body elections after a gap of several years,” said Waghmare.
Which Local Bodies Are Going to the Polls?
The elections are long overdue. The tenure of all 29 municipal corporations, 248 Nagar Parishads, 42 Nagar Panchayats, 32 Zilla Parishads, and 336 Panchayat Samitis has ended. These local bodies are currently under the control of administrators.
Interestingly, Ichalkaranji and Jalna will participate for the first time as newly formed municipal corporations.
The OBC Reservation Puzzle
One of the main stumbling blocks was the complex issue of OBC reservation in local body elections. The Banthia Commission, constituted in March 2022, had recommended a 27% reservation for OBCs, staying within the Supreme Court’s 50% cap on total reservation.
The Supreme Court has now permitted the implementation of the reservation structure as it stood prior to the Banthia report, thus unlocking the stalled election process.
Political Face-Off: Mahayuti vs. Maha Vikas Aghadi
The upcoming local body elections are expected to serve as a mini-Vidhan Sabha and will test the strength of Maharashtra’s two major political alliances—Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
- Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, had a resounding victory in the 2024 Assembly elections.
- The MVA includes Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), and the Congress.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stated that Mahayuti aims to contest these elections together, although alliances may vary at local levels based on ground realities. Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray and Jayant Patil have encouraged their respective cadres to gear up for a tough electoral battle.
The Congress, too, has empowered its local leadership to take final calls on contest strategies.
BMC Elections: No Expansion in Seats
For Mumbai, elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)—India’s richest civic body—will be held for the existing 227 seats, not 236 as was earlier proposed.
As the ward formation process gets underway, Maharashtra inches closer to its much-awaited local body elections. With administrative formalities set in motion and political parties preparing for a fierce contest, the state is likely to witness a significant reshaping of grassroots governance by December 2025.
Stay tuned for regular updates on Maharashtra’s local body polls only on [The Chandigarh News].