Voting begins in 264 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats in Maharashtra

Voting was underway on Tuesday (December 2, 2025) throughout 264 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats within the first section of the native physique elections in Maharashtra, the place 6,042 seats and 264 posts of Council Presidents are up for grabs.

The polling started at 7.30 a.m. and can conclude at 5.30 p.m. Votes will probably be counted on December 3, officers mentioned.

Almost one crore voters are eligible to train their franchise within the first spherical of the multi-tier rural and concrete native our bodies elections, which, as per the Supreme Courtroom’s directives, are to be concluded by January 31, 2026.

Polling is being held for 264 posts of the Municipal Council Presidents and 6,042 seats throughout councils and Nagar Panchayats.

In accordance with officers, 12,316 polling stations have been arrange, and 62,108 polling personnel have been deployed throughout the State.

Safety preparations are in place to make sure peaceable polling.

The State Election Fee (SEC) has organized an sufficient variety of Digital Voting Machines (EVMs), 17,367 management models, and 34,734 poll models, officers added.

The ballot battle has turn out to be multi-dimensional with the BJP-led Mahayuti and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) locking horns, interspersed by “pleasant fights” among the many alliances and refined bids for one-upmanship between the BJP and Shiv Sena.

The electoral course of for 288 native our bodies (Nagar Panchayats and Municipal Councils) introduced on November 4 has been marked by authorized tangles and squabbling amongst allies in each camps.

The SEC has deferred polling in 24 native our bodies to December 20 in view of judicial appeals filed in opposition to the choices of Returning Officers following the scrutiny of nomination papers.

Individually, because of ongoing courtroom instances, elections for 154 seats throughout 76 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats have been rescheduled to December 20.

The native physique polls are being considered as a serious indicator of political sentiment in Maharashtra, a 12 months after the BJP-led Mahayuti received 235 out of the 288 seats within the State Meeting elections.

These polls have already witnessed vital political manoeuvring, with the ruling Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Celebration going through off in opposition to the Opposition MVA of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) and Congress.

Whereas the Opposition centered its marketing campaign on native management, the BJP stole a march over different events by making certain unopposed victories in 100 councillor seats and three Municipal President positions.

The EC launched a verification system marking suspected duplicate voters with double stars on lists, requiring strict identification checks at polling stations. It additionally launched a cell software offering details about candidates and voters, together with affidavits of candidates.

The native physique elections are being carried out below a Supreme Courtroom directive to finish pending polls by January 31, 2026. The schedules for 29 Municipal Companies, together with Mumbai, 32 Zilla Parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis, are but to be introduced.