CM Fadnavis calls Maha local body polls postponement ‘failure of the system’, Oppn blames BJP & SEC

Mumbai: The ruling and opposition parties in Maharashtra, on Tuesday, have reacted sharply over the State Election Commission’s (SEC) decision to postpone elections in few nagar parishad and nagar panchayat and also on the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court’s move to issue a directive that mandates a unified counting day for all poll-bound bodies on December 21.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while accepting the court’s judgment and respecting the autonomy of the judiciary and the Election Commission, voiced strong criticism of the overall process.

“I have not yet read the court’s verdict, but the decision given by the bench must be accepted by everyone,” he said.

He also added, “I have been observing local body elections for the last 25 to 30 years, but this is the first time that announced elections have been postponed and their results have been pushed back. This method does not seem right.”

He called the situation a “failure of the system”, saying that the errors disappoint candidates who have campaigned hard.

He urged the SEC to reform its process.

He also opined that the SEC had “misinterpreted the law”, saying, “My view is that the law has been misinterpreted. Postponing all counting for the sake of just 24 places does not seem right to me.”

He stressed that his personal displeasure was with the legal procedure, not the Election Commission itself.

The Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that the elections have been disrupted, and the elections in the state have turned into child’s play.

“The state government and the Election Commission are responsible for this, as the Supreme Court’s verdict has been misinterpreted. The government wanted to show that it has given 27 per cent reservation to OBCs — what direction is this government working in? Tomorrow’s vote counting has been postponed to December 21. The Fadnavis government is responsible for this; creating obstacles in the vote counting means delaying the elections, using money — in fact, isn’t this a form of vote theft? Seeing that the results won’t be in its favour, is it trying to manipulate the election results? Democracy is being strangled,” Wadettiwar alleged.

Shiv Sena-UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray sarcastically said, “It is better not to speak about the Election Commission and the court.”

On the other hand, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray remarked that “arbitrariness is going on in the country”.

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule heavily criticised the SEC’s move, calling the confusion a “massive mess” and the decision “incomprehensible”.

“The State Election Commission has created a massive mess. They did not listen even after we spoke according to the rules,” Bawankule said.

He noted that the SEC misinterpreted rules and that the decision to postpone all counting was “holding citizens hostage”.

NCP-SP legislator Rohit Pawar targeted the ruling MahaYuti government and the poll body.

“The decision taken by the High Court to postpone the election results is a stamp of approval on the shoddy work of the Election Commission,” he said in a post on X.

“Even though the Chief Minister has expressed displeasure over this decision, he should not forget that this is what happens when the Election Commission is tied to the party’s leash. Both the BJP and the Election Commission are equally responsible for the chaos created in the state today,” he commented.

IANS