The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, in 2020, has announced that the councillors from the state will be responsible for electing the Presidents of the Nagar Panchayats and Nagar Parishads, and the elections will no longer be held keeping the public in mind. However, the newly formed Shinde-Fadnavis alliance scrapped the decision on Thursday, July 14, 2022, and announced that the elections will be held as before where the public will be responsible to elect the Presidents.
This decision has come across as a shock to the members from the MVA. Announcement was made after a state cabinet meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Leaders from the current ruling party also approved the decision to scrap the mandate passed by the MVA in 2020. Experts believe that the same has been planned keeping the upcoming municipal corporation elections in mind.
This means that the direct elections will now be held and the decision for the same was planned in 2018 by the then ruling party, BJP, however, was scrapped by the MVA government later.
In the similar manner, the government has decided that the sarpanchs of the gram panchayats across Maharashtra will also be elected directly by the public. MVA’s decision of electing by members of the gram panchayats has now been scrapped and to implement the same, the current government will amend the Maharashtra Gram Panchayat Act, 1958, as well.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to extend the tenure of the presidents and vice presidents of the zilla parishads and panchayat samitis by three months. This has been implemented keeping the Maharashtra Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti Act, 1969 in mind, whereby officials plan to amend the concerned act.
Key members of the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) will also be voted by the eligible farmers, which the BJP government had been supporting since 2018 by firmly stating that the farmers had the rights to vote thereby making a transparent selection of the representatives. Leaders from the party also believe that this would help avoid manipulation, political rigging, and opacity involved in the selection thereby promoting democratic accountability.
A committee chaired by the director of marketing had recommended that conducting direct elections would help farmers, and the decision was taken keeping the suggestions in mind. Officials have also confirmed that necessary amendments will be made in the APMC Act, 1963 as well.
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