The elections to 10 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on February 21, the State Election Commission announced.
Counting of votes will take place on February 23, State Election Commissioner JS Saharia said.
The other big corporations where the polls will be held include Pune and Thane.
The elections to 25 zilla parishads will also be held in two phases, on February 16 and 21, Saharia said.
With the announcement of the poll schedule, the election code of conduct has come into effect with the announcement of the dates.
Though the elections will be held in 10 municipal corporations, the focus will be on the country’s richest civic body, the BMC.
Leaders of BJP and Shiv Sena have so far spoken of their willingness for an alliance in these polls. However, there is no announcement yet of any seat-sharing formula.
In the 2012 polls, of the 227 seats in the BMC, Shiv Sena had contested from 158 seats and won 75, whereas the BJP had contested from 69 seats and won 32.
The BJP, which won the maximum number of seats in the recent municipal council and nagar parishad polls, is eyeing more seats this time around.
The current terms of Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Akola, Solapur, Amravati and Nagpur civic bodies end in March.
The HSC examinations will be held between February 28 and March 25 and the SSC exams between March 7 and 29.
In 2012, the BMC elections were held on February 16 and the new House of the BMC was formed on March 8.
The electoral roll for the BMC and other municipal corporations, as on January 1, has been updated on the SEC website.
Saharia said elections to 283 panchayat samitis in the state will also be held along with the zilla parishads in two phases.
Some seven crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in the elections, the State Election Commissioner added.
With over 70 per cent voters in the state to participate in the polls, the outcome would be seen as a mandate on the performance of the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government, which is in power for over two years now.
“Voting for the first phase of polls (ZPs and panchayat samitis) will be held on February 16 and on February 21 for the second phase. All the 10 municipal corporations will go to polls on February 21. Counting of votes for both the phases of zilla parishads and panchayat samitis and the municipal corporations will take place on February 23 at one go,” said Saharia.
“Districts like Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Beed, Nanded, Osmanabad, Latur, Buldana, Yavatmal, Wardha, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, along with 165 panchayat samitis, will go to polls on February 16. Out of the 283 panchayat samitis, 165 are going to polls in the first phase.
