In a move that signals the imminent conduct of local body elections, the state government has appointed senior bureaucrat Dinesh Waghmare as the new State Election Commissioner (SEC) on Monday. Waghmare, a 1994 batch IAS officer, previously served as the additional chief secretary of the medical education department. His appointment, which comes after the retirement of U P S Madan in September 2024, will see him head the commission for a tenure of five years.
The State Election Commission is responsible for organizing elections to civic bodies, zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, and gram panchayats. According to sources, Waghmare’s appointment may be the first step toward initiating the election process. Several local bodies in the state are currently without elected representatives and are being managed by appointed commissioners and chief executive officers. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, originally scheduled for February 2022, was delayed due to ongoing legal cases concerning reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the reorganization of wards, and the number of elected representatives for local bodies. The Supreme Court is set to hear further petitions on January 28 regarding these matters.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently hinted that local body elections could be held in April-May this year, emphasizing that the government would work to resolve the legal issues ahead of the polls. Local body elections are often seen as mini Assembly elections, offering political parties a chance to gauge their local strength. Both ruling and opposition parties have indicated a preference to contest independently, without forming alliances at the state or national level.