Mumbai: Days after the State Election Commission announced a poll schedule for the 14,234 gram panchayats, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday announced that a draw for the post of Sarpanch from the reserved category will be out after the election results. Earlier it was done before the elections.
The state government took this decision to avoid irregularities which prevailed when draws were out before the elections. Further, the government also found that elections to the Sarpanch post were contested with bogus caste certificates.
The eight districts where reservation for Sarpanch post was already declared before the elections will now stand cancelled. The Department of Rural Development has issued the necessary notification.
As reported by Free Press Journal, polling for 14,234 gram panchayats will be held on January 15 and counting of votes will be held on January 18. If a candidate wants to contest in a reserved seat, he / she will have to give an assurance deed in the absence of caste certificate. Acknowledgement of application for caste certificate will also have to be attached.
The districts and the district-wise number of gram panchayats going to polls next month are as follows: Thane (158), Palghar (3), Raigad (88), Ratnagiri (479), Sindhudurg (70), Nashik (621), Dhule (218), Jalgaon (783), Ahmednagar (767), Nandurbar (87), Pune (748), Solapur (658), Satara (879), Sangli (152), Kolhapur (433), Aurangabad (618), Beed (129), Nanded (1,015), Osmanabad (428), Parbhani (566), Jalna (475), Latur (408), Hingoli (495), Amravati (553), Akola (225), Yavatmal (980), Washim (163), Buldhana (527), Nagpur (130), Wardha (50), Chandrapur (629), Bhandara (148), Gondia (189) and Gadchiroli (362).
