Elections for more than 25 municipal corporations across several districts in Maharashtra have been postponed after the State Election Commission (SEC) detected widespread irregularities in the appeals process related to rejected nomination papers. Voting, earlier scheduled for December 2, will now take place on December 20 in these areas.
Polling for all remaining municipal councils and nagar panchayats will continue as planned on Tuesday from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. The results for those bodies will be declared on December 3.
The SEC has suspended the polling in numerous wards of several districts, including Thane, Baramati, Amravati, Ahilyanagar, Nanded, Solapur, Yavatmal, Dharashiv, Chandrapur, Akol and Pune.
With campaign entering the final phase, the decision came as a major shocker for many candidates.
Reason for delay
According to the SEC, the postponement stems from serious procedural lapses in handling appeals filed by candidates whose nomination papers were rejected. Under the Maharashtra Municipal Election Rules, 1966, all appeal decisions must be finalised by November 22, allowing candidates a three-day window for withdrawal before symbols are allotted.
However, several municipal bodies failed to follow this mandated sequence as symbols were allotted before appeal decisions were finalised. Some appeal orders were delivered late. In some cases, appeals were still pending while officials proceeded with the final candidate list and symbol allocation.
The SEC rebuked election officials for ignoring guidelines and ordered that polling should be stopped in all affected wards.
Revised timeline for affected areas
Last date for withdrawal of nominations: December 10
Final candidate list and symbol allotment: December 11
Voting: December 20 (7:30 am to 5:30 pm)
Counting of votes: December 21
Official results publication in the government gazette: By December 23
