■ By Vikas Vaidya :
■ 20 ZPs too may not go to polls; Crossing 50% reservation limit major headache
■ Municipal Council polls after Winter Session
ZP polls: Voting percentage may dip The municipal elections will be held on January 20 and the Zilla Parishad elections by the end of March. There are signs of a dip in voting in the Zilla Parishad elections if it is conducted in March. The class 12 and 10 exams are on February 9 a nd February 19, respectively. Parents and students slog for these examinations throughout the year. As a r esult, the entire family goes on a t rip or goes out of town after the examination. Sources explained that this may have an impact on voting percentage.
THERE is bad news for the aspirants in Nagpur and
Chandrapur staking claims for
Municipal Corporation elections 2026, as both these corporations are unlikely to go to
polls, said a reliable source
while talking to ‘The Hitavada’.
The polls of municipal corporations barring Nagpur and
Chandrapur may be conducted on January 20. Both these
municipal corporations have
exceeded the reservation limit
of 50% mainly due to the reservations given to OBC. The local
body polls were not held since
2022 as there was no clarity on
OBC reservations.
After the
clearance from Supreme Court,
the Election Commission
announced the polls. With the
addition of OBCs under reservation category, the limit has
exceeded 50%, violating the
Supreme Court judgement.
According to sources in the
political circles, the municipal
elections in the State will be
announced as soon as the
Winter Session of State
Legislature ends. The Winter
Session that began on Monday
will conclude on Sunday,
December 14. There is a strong
possibility that the model code
of conduct will be imposed anytime after December 15,
sources added. According to
sources, Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis wil be going to Davos next week.
Similarly,the elections to 20
Zilla Parishads, which have
crossed the limit of 50% reservations, too will not be held
now.
While Nagpur Municipal
Corporationhasreached54.33
per cent, the Chandrapur
MunicipalCorporationtouches 53%.
InNagpur,thereare151seats
of which 82 are reserved. In
Chandrapur, there are total 66
seats of which 35 came under
reservation.
In Nagpur district, the elections to 17 Nagar Panchayat
and Municipal Councils have
crossed the limit of 50% reservationforelection.Considering
theSupremeCourtjudgement
that has capped the limit to
50%, the results of these 17
local bodies were to be kept
reservedanddeclaredafterthe
verdict of Supreme Court. The
issue came up after the declaration of the election schedule
for Nagar Panchayats and
Municipal Councils.
Duringthesamejudgement,
the Supreme Court observed
that only two municipal corporations have exceeded the
50% reservation limit.
Considering this, it asked the
authorities to notify the elections of all municipal corporationsintheState.Duetothis,
theGovernmenthadtochange
the order of the election
process. Otherwise, the State
Government had planned to
hold the Zilla Parishad electionsaftertheNagarPanchayat
and Nagar Parishad elections.