Pune: A major twist has come forward in Pune Municipal Councils and Municipal Panchayats Elections, as some local body elections have now been postponed to later this month, officials announced on Sunday night. Full elections of the Baramati Municipal Council and Phursungi-Uruli Devachi Municipal Council have been cancelled -- which were supposed to happen on Tuesday and have been postponed to a later date. Meanwhile, some ward polls have been postponed too in four civic bodies across the district.
When Will Municipal Council Elections Happen?
According to the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC), the postponed elections of the two civic bodies and some wards of other civic bodies will happen on 20th December. The directive regarding this was issued on Sunday night, two days before the polling was going to happen.
A petition was filed in court regarding the ongoing Municipal Council and Municipal Panchayat elections in the state. The verdict was delivered after 23rd November. Due to this, it was announced that the elections related to the concerned seats would be postponed. However, there was an atmosphere of confusion among members, candidates, and workers in other seats and wards as to which specific seats were affected by the SEC's order throughout the day.
The information was released late at night by the Pune District Administration, which brought relief to some candidates, while others expressed dissatisfaction over the reduced time available for campaigning.
Status Of All 17 Civic Bodies
Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi said, "As per the order of the SEC, the voting process for the posts of president and members of Baramati Municipal Council and Phursungi-Uruli Devachi Municipal Council, and for the member posts in specific wards of Talegaon Dabhade, Lonavala, Daund, and Saswad Municipal Councils will be conducted on December 20."
Voting in several municipal council wards has been postponed. In Talegaon Dabhade, this includes Ward 2(A) in the Tukaram Nagar area, Wards 7(A-B) in the central Gaonthan region, and Wards 8(A-B), which cover the market and industrial areas.
In the Lonavala Municipal Council, voting has been postponed in Ward 5(B), which includes Tungal and Bangarwadi, as well as Ward 10(A) in Gawali Wada. In Daund Municipal Council, Ward 9(A), which covers the central market area, has been affected. Similarly, in the Saswad Municipal Council, voting has been postponed in Ward 11(A), located in the north-eastern part of the town.
Out of the 17 civic bodies in Pune district scheduled for local body elections on Tuesday, 11 will proceed with normal voting. The results of them will be announced on Wednesday. The civic bodies unaffected by court-related postponements are Alandi, Bhor, Chakan, Indapur, Jejuri, Junnar, Rajgurunagar (Khed), Shirur, Municipal Councils and Malegaon Budruk, Manchar and Vadgaon Maval Municipal Panchayats.
Revised Program Announced By the SEC
- Election Programme announced – 4th December
- Withdrawal of Nomination Papers – 10th December (up to 3:00 PM)
- Symbol allocation, Final List – 11th December
- Actual Voting – 20th December
- Counting of Votes – 21st December
