The first big test of local body elections in Maharashtra is going to be held today i.e. on December 2. In this, the eyes of the entire state are fixed on the direct political clash between Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi. Voting in 264 city councils and nagar panchayats is being considered as the next big indicator of public mood after the assembly elections. The political temperature is high regarding these elections which have been pending for almost a year and both the alliances are in the field with full force.
In the first phase, about one crore voters will be able to exercise their franchise. Voting to be held on December 2 will decide the future of 6,705 member posts and 264 president posts. The entire election process will be done through electronic voting machines and the results will come on December 3. However, elections in 24 local bodies will be postponed to December 20 after the State Election Commission stopped them due to irregularities in scrutiny of nominations, delayed decisions on appeals and flaws in allotment of election symbols. In many cases, candidates did not even get the stipulated three days to withdraw their names, which the Commission considered against the rules.
Direct clash between Mahayuti and MVA
The election is being seen as a direct contest between the BJP-led grand alliance comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) and Congress. After Mahayuti’s historic victory of 235 seats in the assembly elections, this voting will now tell whether the same wave continues in the local bodies too or whether the opposition is able to show signs of a comeback at the rural and urban levels. BJP has even won 100 councilors and three city president posts without any contest.
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Last round of campaign and code of conduct
The promotion will stop completely at 10 pm on Monday night. After this, political parties will not be allowed to hold rallies, marches, loudspeakers and any kind of public campaigning. Any kind of election advertisement will be completely banned on the day of voting. According to ‘Media Regulation and Advertisement Certification Order 2025’, advertisements will not be published on any newspaper, TV channel or social media platform on December 2. The Commission has implemented a mobile app to provide information to candidates and a double star system to identify duplicate voters.
Fadnavis called the commission’s decision wrong
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the decision to postpone the elections of 24 civic bodies as wrong and injustice to the candidates. He said that it is not appropriate to stop the elections at the last moment for the candidates who have completed the nomination process. However, he also said that the State Election Commission is an independent institution and has the right to take decisions. Despite this, he continued to oppose the commission’s decision, saying it had an unnecessary impact on the electoral process. Both Mahayuti and MVA carried out aggressive campaigns by fielding their top leaders.
Opposition’s attack on voter list intensifies
The opposition, especially Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, are accusing the Mahayuti government of massive irregularities in the voter list. Shiv Sena (UBT) alleged that NDA is conspiring to steal votes in the name of SIR. Following pressure from the opposition, BMC has launched a massive voter list correction campaign across Mumbai. Names are being checked through door-to-door survey, voter assistance centers at ward level and error correction drives.
These local body elections are being conducted before January 31 under the instructions of the Supreme Court. Elections for 29 municipal corporations, 32 district councils and 336 panchayat committees are yet to be announced. Political analysts believe that the results of December 2 voting will affect the political environment of the state to a great extent. If Mahayuti’s victory is repeated like that in the Assembly, it will send a message of strong public support to the BJP-led government. On the other hand, if the opposition alliance gets a better performance, it can increase their strength in the upcoming big elections.
