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Mumbai, Nov 26 (IANS) The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Wednesday released an updated schedule for the preparation and publication of voter lists ahead of the upcoming 29 municipal corporation elections. The revised timetable aims to ensure greater transparency, accuracy and public participation in the local democratic process.
The new schedule updates the ongoing schedule to November 13, 2025, and pushes back key dates for the voter-list process.
The SEC’s revised schedule comes two days ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on Friday on the contentious issue of reservation in local bodies, which has been pending for several years.
Under the revised timetable, the last date for filing claims, objections and suggestions on the draft voter lists has been extended to December 3 instead of November 27. Certification and publication of final division-wise voter lists will now be done on December 10 instead of December 5; The publication of polling station localization lists is scheduled for 15 December instead of 8 December; And the polling station wise voter list will be published on 22 December instead of 12 December.
According to the new programme, the draft voter lists will be published on the official municipal and SEC websites, allowing eligible citizens to review their details and submit any corrections or objections. Election officials have extended key deadlines for submitting claims and objections, giving citizens additional time to address errors in voter information, request inclusion of names, or seek deletions.
The SEC’s decision to release the revised schedule comes after a long-standing demand by opposition parties including Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to submit suggestions and objections.
Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS founder Raj Thackeray had urged that the SEC provide a 21-day period to submit suggestions and objections, or cancel the elections and hold the elections only after rectification of the voter list. The two leaders pointed to worrying discrepancies and frequent changes in recent voter lists, warning that these issues could undermine the transparency and integrity of the election process.
In a joint letter, the parties noted that the final revised voter list for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on October 30, 2025 was not published promptly or clearly, thereby depriving voters and political parties of vital information.
He questioned the delay in updating the supplementary voter list of women and asked why the State Election Commission had failed to clarify important procedural matters.
The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee also appealed to the SEC to extend the deadline for submitting objections and suggestions on the draft voter lists released by various municipal corporations in the state, terming the existing limit of seven days as inadequate. State Congress chief Harsh Vardhan Sapkal, Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar and Legislative Council group leader Satej Patil said in a letter to the SEC that the draft voter list for the municipal elections was published on November 20, 2025 and the deadline for submitting objections and suggestions was set for November 27, 2025.
He said that many municipal corporations require extension of this time limit and the present period of only seven days is extremely short and should be extended to 15 days.
–IANS
SJ/PGH