Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The long wait for aspiring candidates is finally over. The State Election Commission (SEC) has announced that the reservation of 29 prabhags through lottery for the upcoming Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) elections will be held on November 11.
Following the directives of the Supreme Court, which has instructed the SEC to conduct all local self-government elections by January 2026, the Commission has begun preparations. The prabhag delimitation for CSMC has already been finalised.
For the first time, elections in the city will be conducted using a four-member prabhag system — 28 prabhags will have four members each, while one prabhag will have three members, making a total of 29 prabhags. The revision of voter lists is currently underway, with officials focusing on the publication of the draft voter list.
Boxx
The official programme announced by Suresh Kakani, secretary of the SEC, regarding reservation is as follows:
October 30 – November 4: Determination of the number of reserved seats in each prabhag and submission of the proposal to the SEC for approval.
November 8: Publication of public notice regarding the reservation drawn through lots in newspapers.
November 11: Conducting the reservation through lots and submitting results to the SEC for approval.
November 17: Publication of the draft reservation list and invite objections and suggestions on it.
November 24: Last date to submit objections and suggestions.
November 25 – December 1: Consideration of received objections and finalization of decisions by the municipal commissioner as per prescribed procedure.
December 2: Publication of the final reservation list in the Government Gazette after approval from the Commission.
Reservation details
Officials have ensured that the total reservation does not exceed the 50 per cent limit as mandated by law. Hence a total of 55 seats in the corporation will be reserved for the upcoming election.
– 31 seats for other backward classes (OBCs), including 16 for women.
– 2 seats for scheduled tribes (STs), including 1 for a woman.
– 22 seats for scheduled castes (SCs), including 11 for women.
– 30 seats for women in the general (open) category.