What happened in Maharashtra Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis in the last elections in 2017?

Elections to 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis in Maharashtra will be held on Saturday, February 7 with the State Election Commission saying adequate arrangements, including police deployment, have been made to ensure peaceful polling.

Elections to most local bodies in the state had been pending since 2022. A total of 7,438 candidates are contesting 731 Zilla Parishad seats and 1,462 Panchayat Samiti seats. Polling will take place across Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Latur districts.

The elections were initially scheduled for February 5 but were postponed following the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash on January 28 and the declaration of three days of state mourning.

Voting will begin at 7.30 am and conclude at 5.30 pm on Saturday, February 9. Counting of votes will start at 10 am on February 9, after which the model code of conduct will be lifted.

What happened in these 12 districts in the last elections 2017?

Zilla parishad and their comprising panchayat samitis in the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Parbhani, Osmanabad (Dharashiv) and Latur last went to polls in 2017.

The Nationalist Congress Party emerged as the largest party in the zilla parishad elections, winning 225 seats across the 12 districts. It posted strong performances in Pune with 44 seats, Satara with 39, Osmanabad with 26 and Parbhani with 24, consolidating its position in both western Maharashtra and parts of Marathwada.

The Bharatiya Janata Party finished second with 141 seats. The party recorded its biggest gains in Latur, where it won 36 seats, followed by Sangli with 23 and Aurangabad with 22. The Congress secured 123 seats, with notable results in Sindhudurg with 27 seats, Aurangabad with 14 and Kolhapur with 14, reflecting a scattered but consistent presence across regions.

Shiv Sena won 119 seats, performing well in Raigad with 18 seats, Ratnagiri with 18 and Pune with 13. Candidates classified under Others together secured 80 seats, indicating the continued influence of independents and smaller groups in local body politics. Parties such as the BSP, CPI, CPIM and MNS failed to win any seats in the elections.

Here's a look at party-wise zilla parishad poll results in these districts: