Pune: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday hinted at elections to some civic bodies in the state could be held in Jan 2026. Pawar was speaking at ‘Mukhyamantri Samruddh Panchayat Raj Abhiyan’ event organised in Pune on Thursday, where he told the administration to prepare for the polls that are overdue in many urban and rural civic bodies, including municipal corporations, municipal councils, and zilla parishads.He said, “Considering the process of declaring the draft delimitation of wards, seeking suggestions and objections, and finalising the wards, I am guessing that elections to some local bodies may be held next Jan. However, I am not the authority, and it is only my guess. Ultimately, the election commission will announce the schedule for the polls.”Elections to over 2,000 local bodies are overdue across the state as a case pertaining to the OBC reservation was pending before the Supreme Court. The apex court, observing that the democratic functioning cannot be delayed due to procedural issues, cleared the way for the polls without further delay, and directed that the OBC quota be implemented based on the model followed before the 2022 state backward classes commission report.Pawar said, “The civic polls should have been held in 2022. The case was in Supreme Court over the OBC quota and now based on its order, elections will be held.”
