In a major relief for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the Supreme Court has put the poll ball in the court of the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) - on holding elections to the 20 municipal corporations, 25 zilla parishads and 210 nagar Parishad - after completion of the ongoing pre-poll process. The apex court has asked the SEC to complete this process, which is expected to be concluded by July. This means elections to the urban bodies and local bodies can be expected only by October and November. By this time, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government expects that the compilation of crucial empirical data of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), one of the triple tests mandated by the apex court for the restoration of 27 per cent political reservation to OBCs in urban and local bodies in the state, will be complete. Already a special dedicated commission on OBCs, headed by former Chief Secretary Jayant Banthia has launched region-wise meetings and undertaken compilation of empirical data of OBCs.
Both, the partners in the MVA government and the opposition are of the firm view that the elections should not be held in the absence of the OBC quota, which was scrapped by the apex court in the past. Veteran NCP minister and Samata Parishad founder Chhagan Bhujbal hinted that the civic and local body elections will be held in October-November.
The Supreme Court, on a special application filed by SEC on Tuesday, observed that the latter could hold elections to local and civic bodies that receive less rainfall in districts from Marathwada and Vidarbha, unlike high-rainfall areas in the Konkan region, where polls must wait till October and November, for the monsoon to recede.
Further, the apex court asked the SEC to complete the pre-poll process, comprising ward formation, reservation for SC, ST and women and the division of voter lists for 2,486 local bodies. A senior SEC officer told The Free Press Journal, ‘‘The apex court has asked to complete the process and decide the poll schedule taking into account the regional, district and local body-wise monsoon situation.’’ The SEC submitted on Tuesday that it has already resumed the pre-poll process which came to a halt on March 10 after the state government passed two laws taking away the SEC’s power of delimitation of wards and fixing poll schedules.
The officer recalled that the Sec, in its special application filed on May 11, had said the process would be completed by July. Further, the SEC had pleaded that it should be allowed to issue an election schedule in September, as conducting elections in July and August would not be possible as the administrative machinery would be busy with flood control, mitigation and disaster management works. Additionally, the SEC had pleaded that it be allowed to hold elections to the urban local bodies in October and for rural local bodies in November.
