Notify wards by May 17: SEC to BMC, 13 others

MUMBAI: The state election commission (SEC) has asked 14 municipal corporations, including BMC and TMC, to issue the final notification on ward formation by May 17. The other civic bodies include those of Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur.
“With this, the process of ward formation will be completed by May 17 and the programme for reservation of wards will be the second step. After this, the electoral rolls will have to be split ward-wise. Once these steps are completed, the pre-poll exercise will be over. All this will still take another 5-6 weeks,” said an official.
‘Civic polls not possible once monsoon hits Maharashtra’
With all pre-poll works for municipal corporations, including BMC, expected to take another 5-6 weeks, officials said once the monsoon hits the state, it will not be possible to hold any elections.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray along with Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde and Anil Parab had a meeting with state election commissioner UPS Madan on Monday. “We had a meeting to seek clarity on certain issues regarding the recent SC order. The SEC has told us that they will seek clarification and get back to us,” said a minister. He said holding elections during monsoon will not be feasible as these 14 corporations are spread across the state.
Besides BMC and TMC, the other 12 civic bodies are of Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kolhapur, Akola, Amaravati, Nagpur, Solapur and Nashik.
The SEC had given its approval for starting the ward formation process on January 28, 2022. While it was in its final stages, the state government brought in a new amendment, taking away from the SEC powers to carry out pre-poll exercises, and the process was stayed.
After Supreme Court on May 4 directed SEC to notify the schedule for local body elections, the state poll body asked many to resume the pre-poll exercise from where it was stopped in March. Officials from these corporations were called to SEC office. They were asked to submit the final ward formation for clearance by May 12.