MVA Govt to defer BMC Polls, Local Body elections in Maharashtra by 3 months

MUMBAI: According to media reports, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government wants to defer all local body elections in Maharashtra, including the BMC polls in Mumbai.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is the richest Municipal body in the country and its annual budget is nearly four times the budget of many states including Goa.

The Times of India reported that an all-party meeting chaired by the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray last Friday came to the consensus that local body elections in the state should not be held until the OBC quota is restored.

The State government is considering where to appoint administrators and where to extend the terms of the concerned local bodies.

Since different political parties control the local bodies in different parts of the state, it will not be possible to appoint administrators at all places. The only option for the government in certain places, will be to extend the terms of the corporations and councils.

In Mumbai, the BMC elections are slated for February 2022, at the same time as the Goa State Assembly polls and they are a show of strength for the Shiv Sena, particularly with Shiv Sena CM Uddhav Thackeray holding the reins of the government, and who has to prove his hold over his party and the electorate in Mumbai for the first time.

Surprisingly, former Maha BJP CM Devendra Fadnavis has been appointed as the State in-charge for the forthcoming Goa Assembly elections.

The state is seeking empirical data on OBC representation from the state backward class commission, as required by the Supreme Court. Similarly, data from the Centre will also be sought from the SECC (Socio Economic and Caste Census) 2011, TOI reported.

The SC struck down the 27% OBC quota for local body polls on the grounds that the combined quota of SCs and STs and OBCs could not exceed the 50% cap. The state’s review petition was dismissed, earlier this year.

The SC demanded empirical data on OBCs in each local body to be placed before it, to allow for restoration of the quota within the 50% cap.

Local body elections for zilla parishad and gram panchayats are scheduled by December this year in Maharashtra.