The State Election Commission of Maharashtra is conducting delayed civic body elections across the state on Saturday, December 20. Voting will take place for wards in 35 municipal councils and nagar panchayats where the electoral process was previously postponed.
Revised Schedule and Nagpur District Seats
As per the revised timetable, the counting of votes for all these elections, which was initially slated for December 3, will now be held on December 21. This change follows orders from the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court.
In Nagpur district alone, voters will cast their ballots for a total of nine seats. This includes three seats each in Kamptee and Narkhed, one seat in Ramtek, and two seats in Kondhali. The elections for municipal president posts and other councillors in the district were completed on December 2.
High Security and Preparations for Peaceful Polling
State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare recently held a virtual review of the preparations for the December 20 voting and the security of strong rooms where electronic voting machines are stored. The administration has installed a robust surveillance system with 314 CCTV cameras across 27 strong rooms to ensure transparency.
Officials informed the commissioner that all necessary measures have been taken to conduct the polling in a peaceful and transparent manner. Arrangements for the counting day were also assessed during the review.
Hotly Contested Races in Amravati Region
One of the key battlegrounds is the Anjangaon Surji Nagar Parishad in Amravati district. The entire poll process here, along with parts of Achalpur, Daryapur, and Warud Nagar Parishads and Dharni Nagar Panchayat, was deferred to December 20. This delay was due to the alleged failure of the election administration to address grievances of contestants in a timely fashion.
The town is set to elect its president and 28 ward members from 14 prabhags. The campaigning saw high-profile visits, with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde canvassing on Thursday and Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday.
A stiff quadrangular contest is anticipated for the president's post among the Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena (Shinde), Congress, and BJP. Seven candidates are in the fray, but the main fight is expected between these major parties.
Political observers suggest that Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Yash Lawate, son of Daryapur MLA Gajanan Lawate, could emerge victorious if he secures the support of Muslim voters. However, BJP's Avinash Gaigole and Shiv Sena (Shinde)'s Spruha Atul Dakre are campaigning vigorously.
Congress candidate Ayesha Bano Rashid Khan and MIM's Vinit Dongardive are likely to corner Muslim and Dalit votes, respectively. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's (VBA) Aakash Raut is also in the race and may cut into Dongardive's Dalit vote bank. Independent candidate Sunil Jawanjal is not expected to garner significant support.
For the 28 municipal councillor seats in Anjangaon Surji, a total of 173 candidates are contesting, with a voter base of 46,620.
