Maharashtra Local Body Polls: SEC Announces Voting Feb 5 And Counting On 7 For Zilla Parishads, Samitis

Mumbai: A day after the Supreme Court extended the timeline for conducting local body elections in Maharashtra by 15 days, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday announced the election schedule for 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis in the state. Voting for these elections will be held on February 5, 2026, while counting of votes will take place on February 7, 2026. The announcement was made by State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare during a press conference held at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai. Secretary of the Commission, Suresh Kakani, was also present on the occasion. With the declaration of the election programme, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect in all the concerned Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti areas.

Official Announcement

As per the schedule, elections will be conducted for a total of 731 seats in Zilla Parishads and 1,462 seats in Panchayat Samitis. The districts where the elections will be held include Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Latur. The official notification for the elections will be issued on January 16, 2026. The process of issuing the notification will be carried out by the respective district collectors at their level. Polling on February 5 will be conducted between 7.30 am and 5.30 pm.

The State Election Commissioner informed that Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections are conducted simultaneously, and therefore, every voter will be required to cast two votes—one for the Zilla Parishad constituency and another for the Panchayat Samiti electoral college.

Unlike municipal council and nagar panchayat elections, where online nomination filing was allowed, the SEC has decided to accept nomination papers only through the offline mode for these elections, following demands from various political parties and candidates.

Caste Validity Rule

Candidates contesting from reserved seats will be required to submit caste certificates along with their nomination papers. If caste validity certificates are not available at the time of filing nominations, candidates must submit a certified copy or proof of having applied for caste validity. Failure to submit the caste validity certificate within six months from the date of declaration of results will result in cancellation of the election retrospectively.

For the smooth conduct of polls, around 25,482 polling stations will be set up across the state. The Commission has ensured adequate availability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), including 51,537 control units and 1,10,329 ballot units.

Voter Access

The voter lists prepared by the Election Commission of India for Assembly constituencies as on July 1, 2025, will be used for these local body elections. These voter lists have been divided ward-wise for Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis. While additions or deletions in the voter lists are not within the SEC’s jurisdiction, special care has been taken to identify duplicate entries, which have been marked with a special symbol.

To facilitate voters, the SEC has made available the ‘Matadhikar’ mobile application, through which voters can check their names in the voter list, polling station details and candidate information. The app is currently available for download on the Google Play Store. Voters can also access information through the SEC website.

Special Facilities

Special arrangements will be made at polling stations for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and women with infants. Priority voting will be provided to such voters. Temporary ramps, wheelchairs, electricity, drinking water, shade and toilet facilities will be ensured at all polling stations. In areas with a high number of women voters, polling stations staffed entirely by women officials and police personnel will be designated as ‘Pink Polling Stations’.

The Commission has planned extensive manpower deployment for the elections. Around 125 Election Officers and 125 Assistant Election Officers will be appointed, while nearly 1.28 lakh election staff will be required for various duties. Necessary instructions have already been issued to divisional commissioners and district collectors to ensure adequate manpower availability.

The SEC has also fixed expenditure limits for candidates. Depending on the size of the Zilla Parishad, the expenditure limit will range from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 9 lakh for Zilla Parishad candidates, while for Panchayat Samiti candidates it will range from Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.

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