SEC Announces Maharashtra Civic Polls For Dec. 2

Mumbai: Amid opposition demands to defer local body elections citing irregularities in voter lists, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday announced the polling schedule for 246 Nagar Parishads (municipal councils) and 42 Nagar Panchayats across the state.

Voting will be held on December 2, and counting of votes will take place on December 3, SEC chief Dinesh Waghmare announced at a press conference. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect immediately in all the concerned areas and will remain in force until the declaration of results.

Accompanied by SEC Secretary Suresh Kakani and other senior officials, Mr. Waghmare said that of the 247 Nagar Parishads, elections will be held for 246, including 10 newly formed councils. Polls for Patur Nagar Parishad in Akola district will remain pending due to a court case. Of the 147 Nagar Panchayats, elections will be conducted for 42, including 15 newly formed bodies, while 27 others have completed their terms. The remaining 105 have not yet completed their tenure.

Mr. Waghmare clarified that the SEC is acting under the Supreme Court’s directive to complete all overdue local body elections by January 31. His remarks also suggest that elections for 29 municipal corporations, 32 zilla parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis, which are pending for the past five years, may also be held before that deadline.

Responding to concerns over duplicate entries in the voter lists, Mr. Waghmare said the SEC is using a tool to mark potential duplicate voters with a “double star ( ** )” symbol. “Such voters will be contacted to confirm their polling centre and will have to submit an undertaking to ensure they vote only once,” he said.

When asked about the number of duplicate entries, Mr. Waghmare said the final figures would be available only two days before polling.

He also clarified that VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines will not be used in these elections. “The local body polls follow a multi-ward system where voters cast multiple votes, making the use of VVPAT technically impractical,” he explained.

The SEC chief added that while the Commission had requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to share the updated voters’ list as of October 15, 2025, it has not yet received a response. Therefore, the voter list dated July 1, 2025, will be used for these elections.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray criticised the SEC after sharing a video of the announcement. “Now I am 100 per cent convinced that the SEC is autonomous only on paper — in reality, it is a puppet in the hands of those in power,” Mr. Thackeray said on social media.