Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court order to hold local body and municipal polls in the state within four months, which had been stalled since 2022, due to legal battles regarding reservation for other backward classes.

“We are very happy that the direction has been given to conduct the civic elections in four months. We have asked the Maharashtra state election commission to start preparations for it,” Fadnavis said.

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Speaking about the Supreme Court’s direction to hold local body elections in Maharashtra, with OBC reservation set to the percentage which had existed before submission of the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission report in July 2022, Fadnavis said, “This means that reservation for OBCs will be retained, as it existed and we are happy about it”.

Fadnavis also said the BJP-led Mahayuti, which is the alliance of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, will contest the Maharashtra civic polls. “As a policy decision, the Mahayuti will contest the civic polls unitedly, though there may be small changes in a few places, depending upon the situation,” Fadnavis said.

However, it is not yet clear what decision will be taken by the Maharashtra government regarding the multiward panel system or the number of seats to be contested during elections to local civic bodies.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court passed an interim order to hold local body and municipal polls in Maharashtra, which had been stalled since 2022, due to legal battles regarding reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The polls were postponed after the Supreme Court ordered a status quo on OBC reservations in local bodies in August 2022.

A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh ordered the Maharashtra State Election Commission to notify local body polls within four weeks.

The apex court ordered that the polls must be held under the OBC reservation policy which prevailed before the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission report, submitted in July 2022, which had recommended a 27% reservation for OBCs in local bodies.

The court stated the election process to be completed in four months but also allowed the Election Commission to seek an extension if needed.

The Supreme Court emphasised that grassroots democracy is important, mentioning that “The constitutional mandate of grassroots democracy through periodical elections to local bodies ought to be respected and ensured”.

The Supreme Court bench stated that the order would not affect ongoing petitions against the Banthia Commission recommendations.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for Maharashtra, asked why elections cannot be held.

Responding to Solicitor General Mehta, Justice Kant stated that bureaucrats had taken over municipal corporations and panchayats, because of the ongoing litigation, which had stayed the democratic process.

“Today, bureaucrats occupy all municipal corporations and panchayats as well as take major policy decisions. Why not allow elections to be held based on the present data?” Justice Kant said.

Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, who appeared for petitioners, argued that elections can’t be held on the basis of the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission’s report, which had de-reserved 34,000 seats intended for OBCs.

However, Solicitor General Mehta said the state had no objection to elections being conducted, as proposed by Jaising.

Justice Kant proposed elections on the basis of current OBC classifications, pending final decision in ongoing proceedings.

The Supreme Court’s order has cleared the way for elections to roughly 2,000 urban and rural local bodies in Maharashtra, including major municipal corporations like Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.

Accordingly, the Maharashtra State Election Commission is scheduled to start the notification procedure soon, since the electoral exercise must be completed within four months, as per the Supreme Court’s orders.