In a major blow to the Shinde-Fadnavis government and the opposition in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the election process launched in 271 gram panchayats in 62 talukas with polling slated for August 4. These elections will take place in the absence of 27% political reservation in local bodies. The code of conduct has already been in place from June 29 when the State Election Commission (SEC) had made an announcement in this regard. These talukas having low rainfall were selected as per the Supreme Court order delivered on May 17, 2022.
The SC’s judgement came days after the ruling and opposition parties made a strong case before the SEC to postpone these elections and also to 92 nagar parishads and 4 nagar panchayats slated for August 18 citing heavy rains and absence of OBC quota.
Interestingly, today was the first day for filing nominations in 271 gram panchayats. As it will continue till July 19 except on July 16-17 being government holidays. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on July 20. The deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers will be July 22. The voting will be held on August 4 and counting of votes will take place on August 5.
A senior officer from the rural development department told the Free Press Journal, ‘’As per today’s order the elections will be held in 271 gram panchayats from 62 talukas. However, the government will make request to the apex court and also to SEC to defer it considering the heavy rains and floods reported in some of these talukas and other parts of Maharashtra as it has completely hampered the transportation and communication. It will adversely impact the movement of the necessary staff in these areas.’’
On the other hand, an SEC officer said that the election process in 271 gram panchayats was already underway and the voting will take place on August 4 as per the poll schedule. ‘’However, SEC will look into the representations by district authorities on heavy rains and floods and accordingly will modulate the poll process.’’
As reported by the Free Press Journal, BJP, NCP and Congress have demanded that these polls be deferred and will be conducted after the monsoon and also after the restoration of OBC quota in local bodies. They have cited that a dedicated commission on OBCs has already submitted its report on empirical data to the state government which in turn has presented it to the apex court.
The opposition NCP has announced that it will field OBC nominees in these elections. The BJP leader and former minister Pankaja Munde insisted that the local body elections should take place only after the restoration of OBC quota. ‘’I will request the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to immediately stay the elections to 271 gram panchayats and 92 nagar parishads and 4 nagar panchayats although the apex court has ruled that the elections are inevitable in these local bodies. There won’t be any compromise on the OBC quota in local bodies and therefore elections need to be postponed,’’ she noted.
As far as elections to 92 nagar parishads and 4 nagar panchayats are concerned, the SEC has already announced the poll schedule but the notification of election will be issued on July 20 by the respective district collectors.
