Four major political parties — the ruling BJP, Shiv Sena, Opposition Congress and NCP — will test political waters, as they take on each other in the crucial elections to the Municipal Corporations of Kolhapur and Kalyan-Dombivli and 68 nagar panchayats and 2,352 grampanchayats in various parts of the State between October 28 and November 6.
The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, currently ruled by the Congress-NCP alliance and the Sena-BJP controlled Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) are going to polls on November 1. This time around, the four parties - BJP, Sena, Congress and NCP - are contesting the polls in both the civic bodies on their respective strengths.
While the KMC in western Maharashtra has 81 seats, including 41 reserved for women, the KDMC, located in adjoining Thane district, has 122 seats, of which 61 are reserved for women.
Announcing the schedule for the various local body polls, State Election Commissioner JS Saharia said here on Monday the voting to the KMC and KDMC would take place from 7.30 am to 5 pm on November 1, while counting will be held the following day.
The nominations to the KMC and KDMC will open on October 6 and continue till October 1, while the scrutiny of papers will take place on October 14. The last date for withdrawal of candidature would be October 16, Saharia said.
Saharia said in addition to the two Municipal Corporation polls, a three-phase schedule for elections to three newly carved out Nagar Parishads, 68 Nagar Panchayats and 2,352 Gram Panchayats would be held on October 28, November 1 and 6 and the counting of votes would take place on November 7.
The outcome in the KMC and KDMC polls will have a bearing on the likely political equations and alliances in the municipal corporation polls of Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur, scheduled for early 2017.
The BJP, which is riding on its superlative performance in the 2014 lok Sabha and Assembly polls, is contesting the forthcoming local body polls on its own strength, as it wants to consolidate its position across the state. The Shiv Sena has deliberately chosen not to go with the BJP, as it wants to maintain political identity of its own in the State.
The Congress and NCP, which had contested the 2014 October Assembly polls separately, are testing their respective strengths in the polls.
The fifth party, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS - which is no longer a force to reckon with in the state --- is trying its luck independently in what like a crucial political battle for all the major political parties in the State.