Days after the conclusion of the municipal council and municipal corporation polls in the state, the crucial elections to the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis in Raigad, Maharashtra, will take place on February 7 (Saturday) and the counting of votes will be held on February 9 (Monday), according to the scheduled shared by the State Election Commission (SEC).
Earlier, the polling was supposed to be held on February 5 (Thursday) and the results were to be declared on February 7 (Saturday), but the elections were deferred in view of the state mourning after the unfortunate demise of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash near the Baramati airport in the Pune district last month.
What happened in the Raigad Zilla Parishad in the previous elections in 2017?
In 2017, the political situation in Maharashtra was different than what it is at present, as the split in Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was yet to take place. Back then, the Congress, the NCP and the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) contested the elections together, and won 38 out of the 59 seats.
On the other hand, the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had managed to win just 21 seats. Thus, the president of the Raigad Zilla Parishad was appointed from the PWP-Congress-NCP coalition.
What happened in the Raigad Panchayat Samitis in the previous elections in 2017?
In the Raigad district, there are 15 Panchayat Samitis comprising 118 seats. These 15 Panchayat Samitis are Panvel, Karjat, Khalapur, Sudhagad, Pen, Uran, Alibaug, Murud, Roha, Tala, Mangaon, Mhasla, Shriwardhan, Mahad and Poladpur.
The undivided Shiv Sena was the biggest winner in the Raigad district, winning 41 of the 118 seats. It was followed by the undivided NCP, which won around 23 seats. The Congress also managed to bag 12 seats. On the other hand, the BJP won just nine seats, according to the Maharashtra SEC. Other parties registered with the SEC also won around 33 seats.
