Elections to civic corporations of Kolhapur and Kalyan-Dombivali will be held on November 1, a poll battle in which the big four of Maharashtra politics - BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP - will be taking on each other.
Announcing the poll schedule at a press conference here today, State Election Commissioner J S Saharia said voting will take place from 7.30 am to 5 pm on November 1, while counting will be held the next day.
Nominations are to be filed from October 6 to 13 and their scrutiny will take place on October 14. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 16, he said.
In addition to the two urban civic bodies, Saharia also announced a three-phase schedule for elections to three newly carved out Nagar Parishads, 68 Nagar Panchayats and 2,352 Gram Panchayats in different parts of the state.
Polling will be held on October 28, November 1 and 6, and counting of votes will take place on November 7, he said.
Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC), located in adjoining Thane district, has 122 seats, of which 61 are reserved for women.
Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC), in south-west Maharashtra, has 81 seats, of which 41 are reserved for women.
Sena-BJP combine currently rules KDMC, while Congress- NCP alliance is in power in Kolhapur. However, this time, NCP, Congress, Sena and BJP will contest separately in both the civic bodies.
Results of KMC and KDMC polls are likely to have an impact on the political permutations and combinations for the municipal corporation polls slated in early 2017 in Mumbai and other important cities like Thane, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur.
Political observers said the results would have a bearing on the seat-sharing talks for the 2017 civic polls.
BJP, which has remained a junior partner of Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for years, is eyeing a large share of votes on the back of its good showing in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Maharashtra last year.
Sharad Pawar's NCP has announced a tie-up with Jansurajya Shakti Party in Kolhapur, where BJP will go with local outfit Tararani Agadhi.
MNS bagged an impressive 26 seats in KDMC in 2010, but its clout has diminished following a poor show in 2014 Assembly polls. However, the Raj Thackeray-led party can not be ignored all together. Shiv Sena has 31 Corporators in the outing civic body, BJP 9, Congress and NCP 15 each.
In Kolhapur, Congress was the single largest party last time with 31 seats followed by NCP (29), BJP (4) and Shiv Sena (3).
