Mumbai, Jan 13 The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC), on Tuesday, announced the elections to the 12 zilla parishads and 125 panchayat samitis on February 5.
The counting of votes will take place on February 7.
The 12 zilla parishads, which are well within the 50 per cent quota limit, include Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, and Kolhapur, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv, and Latur.
The 125 panchayat samitis, which will go for the polls, fall under these 12 zilla parishads.
Nominations filing will start from January 16 to 21, scrutiny on January 22 and withdrawal of nominations on January 27.
The announcement was made by SEC Dinesh Waghmare, who was accompanied by Secretary Suresh Kakani and other officials.
These elections will be held through electronic voting machines (EVMs).
There will be a total of 25,482 polling stations in the local bodies.
The voting list of July 1, 2025, will be used during these elections.
The final list has been published polling station-wise on November 27.
The inclusion of deletion of voters does not come under the SEC's jurisdiction. However, the SEC has identified the duplicate voters.
The SEC said that there are 2.09 crore voters, of which male voters are 1.07 crore and female 1.02 crore and others comprise 473. There are 731 members to be elected in these 12 zilla parishads. In 125 panchayat samitis there are 1,462 members to be elected.
The SEC's move comes after the Supreme Court on Monday admitted the SEC's plea seeking extension for holding these elections beyond the January 31 deadline set by the apex court.
The SEC had sought the extension up to February 10 but the Supreme Court extended it to February 15, asking the former to complete the polls to 12 zilla parishads and 125 panchayat samitis before that.
At present, elections for 32 zilla parishads and 336 panchayat samitis remain pending across Maharashtra.
Of these, 20 zilla parishads and 211 panchayat samitis exceed the 50 per cent reservation cap and their elections will take place depending on the apex court's order.
Consequently, the SEC has prioritised the 12 districts and 125 panchayat samitis that fall within the permissible legal reservation limits.
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force in the respective zilla parishad and panchayat samiti areas from Tuesday, following the announcement of the election schedule.
Although the MCC is active in these specific areas, no announcements or actions that could influence voters of these local bodies can be made elsewhere either.
However, SEC Waghmare said that the model code will not hinder measures or aid related to natural disasters.
It is mandatory to follow the model code as per the orders issued by the SEC on November 4, 2025.
"Since zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections are held simultaneously, every voter is required to cast one vote for the zilla parishad electoral division and one vote for the panchayat samiti electoral college. Therefore, a single voter is expected to cast two votes," SEC Waghmare added.
During the Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat elections, facilities for online submission of nomination papers and affidavits will be provided.
However, considering the demands of various political parties and candidates, nomination papers were accepted via the traditional offline method during the final phase of those elections.
Subsequently, offline submissions were also accepted for the Municipal Corporation elections.
"Similarly, for the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections, nomination papers will now be accepted offline," the SEC said.
Candidates willing to contest from reserved seats have to submit their caste certificate and caste validity certificate along with their nomination papers.
"However, if the validity certificate is not attached, it is mandatory to provide a true copy of the application submitted to the Caste Scrutiny Committee or any other proof of having applied for it. If the elected candidate fails to submit the Caste Validity Certificate within six months from the date the results are declared, their election will be cancelled with retrospective effect," the SEC added.
The primary reason for the delay has been the legal battle over OBC (Other Backward Classes) quotas.
In 2021, the Supreme Court struck down the 27 per cent OBC reservation in local bodies because it pushed the total reservation beyond the 50 per cent ceiling set by the Indra Sawhney judgment.
The court mandated a "triple test" (setting up a commission, collecting empirical data, and ensuring reservations don't exceed 50 per cent in total) before the quota could be restored.
This led to a long-drawn process of data collection and legal challenges.
These elections are often called "Mini Assemblies" because they reflect the ground-level pulse of rural and semi-urban voters.
For the major alliances in Maharashtra, these results are crucial for momentum going into state-level contests.
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