Akola (Maharashtra) [India], June 11: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday affirmed that local body elections in the state will be fought under the Mahayuti alliance, with final decisions on specific seat-sharing left to the state leadership.
“Our state president, working president, and election committee have the right to decide on the alliance in the local body elections. No one else. Our role is to contest the elections under the Mahayuti. In some places, where it is not possible, there is a friendly fight,” CM Fadnavis stated.
Local Polls Preparation Underway
The Maharashtra government has initiated the process of drafting ward boundaries for 29 municipal corporations, including major cities like Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai, and Kalyan-Dombivli.
This comes after the Supreme Court in May directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to notify local body elections within four weeks and aim to complete polling within four months.
“The constitutional mandate of grassroots democracy through periodical elections of the local bodies ought to be respected and ensured,” the SC bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh noted in its order.
The Court also allowed the commission to seek more time if unavoidable delays arise. The elections had been delayed for years, primarily due to litigation over OBC reservation issues.
Fadnavis on Akola Train Accident
Addressing the recent train accident in Akola on June 9, which resulted in four deaths, CM Fadnavis confirmed a detailed meeting with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the same day.
“Good decisions were made in the meeting. Various measures have been discussed,” he added, suggesting that new safety measures may be implemented following the incident.