Maha poll body stays elections to municipal councils and nagar panchayats

The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday stayed the elections to 92 municipal councils and four nagar panchayats in view of the next week's hearing on OBC reservations before the Supreme Court.

On July 12, the state OBC commission submitted its report (containing data about Other Backward Classes) to the Supreme Court, and the next hearing in the case has been scheduled for July 19, the SEC said in a statement here.

Last week, the SEC had announced that elections to these local government bodies will take place on August 18 without OBC reservation.

But both the Eknath Shinde-led government as well as opposition parties had said that elections should not be held until the OBC quota was issue was resolved. Last year, the SC had set aside the OBC quota in local bodies in Maharashtra for want of empirical data about backward classes population in the state.

Two days ago, the SEC stayed lottery for deciding other reservations in 25 zilla parishads and 284 panchayat samitis.