Third phase of Maharashtra local body polls on Feb 5: SEC

Maharashtra's local body elections for 12 zilla parishads and 125 panchayat samitis are set for February 5, with results on February 7.

MUMBAI: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday announced the schedule for the third phase of Maharashtra’s local body elections, with polling for 12 zilla parishads (ZPs) and 125 panchayat samitis to be held on February 5. The counting of votes and declaration of results will take place on February 7.

Third phase of Maharashtra local body polls on Feb 5: SEC

State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said elections will be conducted in districts where caste-based reservation is below the 50% ceiling. The schedule for the remaining 22 zilla parishads will be announced after the Supreme Court delivers its verdict on reservations that exceed the 50% cap.

The zilla parishads going to polls include Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in the Konkan division; Pune, Satara, Solapur, Sangli and Kolhapur in the Pune division; and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Latur in the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar division.

According to the SEC, there are 731 zilla parishad seats in these districts, including 369 reserved for women, 83 for Scheduled Castes, 25 for Scheduled Tribes and 191 seats in citizen Scheduled Caste wards. In the 125 panchayat samitis, elections will be held for 1,462 seats, including 731 for women, 166 for Scheduled Castes, 38 for Scheduled Tribes and 342 seats in citizen Scheduled Caste wards.

Waghmare said voters will cast two votes, one for the zilla parishad member and another for the panchayat samiti member. Nominations will be filed offline. The SEC will deploy electronic voting machines (EVMs) at 25,482 polling stations and around 1.28 lakh staff will be involved in the poll process.

The voter list published on July 1, 2025 will be used. The SEC will also identify repeat voters and mark them on the electoral rolls, similar to the process adopted during corporation elections. Campaigning will end 24 hours before polling.

As per the schedule, nominations will be accepted from January 16 to January 21, scrutiny will be held on January 22, and the last date for withdrawal is January 27.