MUMBAI: With the formal announcement of two-phase elections to 10 municipal corporations, 26 Zilla Parishads and 283 Panchayat Samitis, the stage is set for a mini-Assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Elections to 10 municipal corporations, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, will be held on February 21, the State Election Commissioner J.S. Saharia, announced here on Wednesday.
As per the schedule announced by Mr. Saharia, in the first phase 15 Zilla Parishads and 165 Panchayat Samitis will go to polls on February 16 while 10 Municipal Corporations, 11 Zilla Parishads and 118 Panchayat Samitis will go to polls on February 21. Counting of votes will be taken up on February 23.
Elections to Nagpur Zilla Parishad have been put on hold following a stay order by the Bombay High Court. Gadchiroli, being one of the remotest districts will go to polls in two phases.
“With the announcement of elections, the model code of conduct has been implemented in the State. The SEC will strictly monitor the elections based on the recent order of the Supreme Court, barring political parties from seeking votes on the basis of religion, caste and race,” said Mr. Saharia.
Over seven crore voters — close to 80% of the electorate — in major cities and vast rural stretches areas will elect 1,258 corporators, 1,558 members of district councils and 3,116 panchayat samiti members. The elections are being billed as a verdict on the performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led State government’s two years in the office. The stakes are high for the BJP, which emerged as the winner in the just concluded four-phase elections to 191 municipal councils and 19 nagar panchayats.
Mr. Saharia said that the SEC received the voters’ list on January 5 and it will be open for suggestions and objections from January 12 to 17 while the ward-wise final list will be announced on January 21.
“A committee will be formed to ensure that the model code of conduct is followed. For ZP polls, the committee will be headed by the district collector while for corporation polls, the municipal commissioner will be at the helm of the committee. These committees will have representatives from police, income tax, banks, transport department, and universities,” Mr. Saharia said.
The SEC has also taken initiatives to ensure transparency in the poll expenditure of candidates and political parties. Each candidate will have to open a new account from which election expenses will be made. At the same time political parties too have to open an independent account for transactions related to election expenses.
“The candidate has to submit the bank record within 30 days after the elections are over, while the time limit for political parties is set at 60 days,” said Mr Saharia.
