Mumbai, May 18: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the long-awaited schedule for the biennial elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) on Monday. Voting is set for June 18, with vote counting scheduled for June 22.
The commission has established a timeline for the entire electoral process, which must be completed by the end of June. The notification will be issued on May 25, with the last date for filing nominations on June 1. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 2, and the deadline for withdrawal of nominations is June 4.
The elections will fill vacancies that have been pending since 2022. Members whose terms have expired include Prashant Prabhakar Paricharak from Solapur (retired January 1, 2022), Arun Kaka Bhimrao Jagtap from Ahmednagar (retired January 1, 2022), and several others from various constituencies.
According to the ECI’s standard guidelines, elections for a local authority constituency can only be conducted if at least 75% of the local bodies within that constituency are actively functioning and at least 75% of the voters are in place. Due to significant delays in conducting local body elections across Maharashtra, these criteria had not been met, resulting in a suspension of representation in these areas.
The situation has now changed. The commission noted that the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra recently informed them that all 16 affected constituencies have finally met the necessary criteria for functionality and voter numbers, paving the way for the resumption of the democratic process. The 16 seats in question have been vacant for varying periods, with some members retiring as early as January 2022.
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) related to this biennial election has been implemented immediately in all relevant constituencies. Political parties and current representatives in these districts must strictly adhere to the ECI’s MCC guidelines. This includes a ban on announcing any new policies, administrative transfers, or major government advertisements until the election process formally concludes on June 25.
The recent local self-governance elections have significantly altered the political landscape, with the Mahayuti alliance receiving a strong mandate. There is now hope that this alliance will secure more seats in the upcoming state council elections compared to the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Major regional centers like Pune, Thane, Nashik, Sangli-Satara, and Yavatmal, which have seen term expirations and shifts in political equations, are now firmly under the control of the ruling alliance’s councilors.
After successfully capturing municipalities like Pune and Solapur, the BJP anticipates winning the majority of these 16 local body seats. The Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, which has achieved significant success in the Thane Municipal Corporation and parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, is vigorously negotiating for seats in its strongholds such as Thane-Palghar and Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.
For the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), these upcoming local body council seats present a challenging strategic hurdle. Unlike seats elected from the assembly, where a clear quota system provides proportional representation based on the number of legislators, local body seats operate under a winner-takes-all principle, determined by the total number of local councilors.
A political analyst noted that the reality at the local body level reflects the strength on paper. Given the significant losses faced by the MVA in municipal elections across the state, their ability to defend historical strongholds in places like Nashik, Jalna, or Kolhapur will be rigorously tested. The only exception may be Kolhapur, where Congress still competes through its traditional cooperative networks, and parts of Marathwada, where the Shiv Sena (UBT) retains a strong base of dedicated workers.
With the recent swearing-in of 10 newly elected members, the ruling alliance is on the brink of achieving a full majority. Winning the majority of the remaining 16 local body seats will grant the Mahayuti alliance, led by Devendra Fadnavis, complete dominance in the legislature, facilitating the smooth approval of critical infrastructure projects, industrial policies, and administrative reforms.
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