Maharashtra begins civic poll process for 29 cities, BMC to retain 227 single-member wards

The Maharashtra government has initiated the long-delayed civic election process for 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), following a Supreme Court directive. The Urban Development department has instructed municipal commissioners to begin drafting ward boundaries based on the latest census data, excluding current voter count and residential numbers. These drafts will then be submitted to the State Election Commission (SEC) and opened for public suggestions and objections before finalisation.

This move follows a Supreme Court order dated May 6, 2025, mandating the state to notify elections to all pending municipal bodies within four weeks and complete them within four months. The court also reinstated OBC reservations in local bodies to the framework that existed prior to 2022. Emphasising that “democratic functioning cannot be held hostage to procedural delays,” the court's intervention came after petitions demanding elections that had been stalled for over two years.

The BMC, India’s wealthiest civic body, will continue to operate with 227 single-member wards, and the ward formation process will be overseen by the BMC Commissioner. For other cities like Pune, Nagpur, Thane, and Nashik, responsibilities have been allocated to the respective municipal authorities as per their classification. The election process will involve three phases: ward formation and reservation, assembly roll division on a ward basis, and final conduct of elections.

The Urban Development department stressed the urgency of the task, given the Supreme Court's time-bound framework. It clarified that the formation of new wards must strictly follow demographic data from the latest census, and not be influenced by the number of voters or residents currently in the area.