Following the completion of municipal council and municipal corporation elections in the state, Ratnagiri will go to the polls for the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis on February 7 (Saturday), with counting slated for February 9 (Monday), according to the State Election Commission (SEC).
The polls were initially slated for February 5 (Thursday), with counting on February 7 (Saturday), but were deferred due to state mourning declared after the tragic death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash near Baramati airport in Pune district last month.
What happened in the Ratnagiri Zilla Parishad in the previous elections in 2017?
Maharashtra’s political scenario in 2017 differed significantly from the present situation, as Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were still unified at the time. Back then, the Congress and the NCP were in an alliance while the Shiv Sena was part of a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In the 2017 Ratnagiri Zilla Parishad elections, the Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party, winning 39 of the 55 seats. On the other hand, the NCP won 15 and the Congress bagged just one seat, according to the Maharashtra SEC.
What happened in the Ratnagiri Panchayat Samitis in the previous elections in 2017?
The Ratnagiri district has nine Panchayat Samitis, which consist around 110 seats. These nine Panchayat Samitis are Mandangad, Dapoli, Khed, Chiplun, Guhagar, Ratnagiri, Sangmeshwar, Lanja and Rajapur. In the last elections in 2017, the undivided Shiv Sena bagged 73 of the 110 seats alone.
The undivided NCP was the second largest party after it won 30 seats. The BJP had bagged just four seats, while the Congress emerged victorious on two seats. Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) alson managed to win one seat, as per the data available on the Maharashtra SEC's website.
The Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Parishad elections will be the first polls to be held in Maharashtra after the tragic demise of Ajit Pawar. In his place, his wife, Sunetra Pawar, has been appointed as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.
