Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday hinted that the much-awaited municipal elections will likely be held in October or November this year.Fadnavis was addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers at Yerawada after unveiling the party Pune city unit president, Jagdish Mulik’s report card. “It is expected that the municipal elections will be held in October or November once the court gives its ruling. Our workers must ensure that the BJP wins the elections and that the next mayor of Pune is of the BJP,” Fadnavis said.
The elections to 14 municipal corporations including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Pimpri-Chinchwad were originally scheduled in February 2022 but were deferred due to various petitions in court. The petitions are now being heard in the Supreme Court (SC) and are at the last stage of hearing. As the civic elections were postponed, administrators have been serving in all these municipal corporations and there have been no public representatives. The delay in civic elections has heightened restlessness among the political parties and their workers, with the opposition accusing the government of having no stomach to hold the civic polls. Later in the evening while speaking to reporters, Fadnavis said, “I have only expressed a guess about the elections considering that SC order may be expected by August and in October-November, polls may take place.”