SEC Announces Feb. 5 Polls to ZPs, Panchayat Samitis

 Mumbai: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday announced elections to 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis in Maharashtra. Polling will be held on February 5, with counting scheduled for February 7. The SEC also clarified that candidates will be allowed to undertake door-to-door campaigning even during the silence period for the ongoing municipal corporation elections, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which are scheduled for January 15.

After nearly four years of administration by appointed officials, elections to the Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis will finally take place on February 5. SEC Commissioner Dr Dinesh Waghmare said the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force with immediate effect in the concerned areas. A total of 2.09 crore voters — 1.07 crore men and 1.02 crore women — are eligible to exercise their franchise in these elections.

Elections will be conducted for 731 seats across the 12 Zilla Parishads and 1,462 seats in the 125 Panchayat Samitis. The districts going to polls include Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Latur.

The election notification will be issued on January 16, 2026, by the respective district collectors. Polling will take place from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm on February 5. Dr Waghmare said disaster management and relief-related works will not be affected by the MCC. Each voter will cast two votes — one for the Zilla Parishad constituency and another for the Panchayat Samiti electoral group.

The SEC chief said candidates contesting reserved seats must submit caste certificates and caste validity certificates along with their nomination papers. In cases where caste validity certificates are pending, proof of application must be submitted. Failure to produce the certificate within six months of the declaration of results will result in retrospective cancellation of the candidate’s election.

It may be noted that Maharashtra has 34 Zilla Parishads and 351 Panchayat Samitis. Elections are still pending in 20 Zilla Parishads and 211 Panchayat Samitis due to disputes over the implementation of 27 per cent OBC reservation. The Supreme Court has directed that local body elections be conducted only within the 50 per cent reservation cap.

According to the SEC, 25,482 polling stations have been set up, with adequate availability of electronic voting machines, including 51,537 control units and 1,10,329 ballot units. The July 1, 2025 electoral rolls of Assembly constituencies will be used, and around 1.28 lakh personnel will be deployed for election duty.