Eyebrows Raised As NCP Leader Announces Tentative Dates For Maharashtra Local Body Polls – Delhi News Daily

Senior NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil. (File)

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dilip Walse Patil has caused a flutter by announcing tentative dates for Maharashtra’s long-delayed local body elections, even though the State Election Commission (SEC) is yet to formally announce the poll schedule.

Walse Patil, a leader of Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which is a part of the BJP-led Mahayuti government, said that Zilla Parishad elections could be held on December 15, while municipal corporation polls may take place on January 15, news agency PTI reported.

“As per my information, the Zilla Parishad elections could be held on December 15, and the civic polls on January 15. The entire process of local body and civic elections will be completed before January 31,” Walse Patil said in a now viral video, adding that the schedule aligns with the Supreme Court’s deadline for completing the long-pending polls.

The NCP leader’s remarks came as the the Election Commission is expected to announce elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats in the coming days, as per The Times of India.

Earlier in September, the Supreme Court pulled up the Maharashtra State Election Commission for repeated delays and directed that all local body elections must be completed by January 31, 2026, calling it a “one-time concession.”

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had made it clear that no further extension would be granted and directed that the ongoing delimitation exercise be concluded by October 31, 2025. The Court warned that delimitation could not be cited as a reason to postpone elections.

Local body elections in Maharashtra have been stalled since 2022 due to litigation over Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation, which had prompted a stay on the poll process.

(With inputs from agencies)