Maharashtra local body elections begin across 29 municipal corporations

Former UP governor Ram Naik voted in the Maharashtra local body elections, which are being held across 29 municipal corporations. The polls feature a contest between the BJP-Shiv Sena Mahayuti alliance and their rivals for key urban centres.

Former Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik on Thursday cast his vote in Mumbai in the ongoing Maharashtra local body elections. Highlighting the importance of elections, Naik expressed happiness and said he continues to meet people in his area. "After many years, this municipal corporation election is finally being held. That's why this election is so important... I don't want to say anything about who should get how many votes, but I keep meeting people outside the polling stations in this area," Ram Naik told ANI.

High-Stakes Civic Polls Across Maharashtra

Twenty-nine municipal corporations across Maharashtra will go to the polls today as a high-voltage campaign comes to an end, setting the stage for a decisive political contest in key urban centres including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Political Alliances and Key Contests

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena are contesting the civic elections as allies under the Mahayuti banner, except in Pune, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has chosen to fight independently in most corporations. However, in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, both NCP factions have come together under a joint manifesto. The main political battle remains centred on Mumbai and Pune, where the BJP-led Mahayuti will face the united Thackeray camp, as just ahead of the Civic poll, both parties' Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray joined hands on the issue of Marathi Manus in a high-stakes fight for control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the country's richest civic body. The last BMC elections were held in 2017.

Pune's Shifting Alignments

In Pune, in a major political realignment, both factions of the NCP came together just before the civic polls for the PMC, following a split in 2023. Ajit Pawar joined hands with Sharad Pawar again and contested against the NDA partner BJP in Pune, whereas Shivsena, led by Eknath Shidne opted to go solo in PMC after failing to set up an acceptable seat-sharing formula with BJP.

Election Logistics and Schedule

According to the State Election Commission, a total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots to decide the fate of 15,908 candidates contesting 2,869 seats across 893 wards in 29 municipal corporations. A total of 39092 Polling centre has been set up across the state.

Polling will be held on January 15 from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, with vote counting scheduled to begin on Friday, January 16. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)