Maharashtra revives multi-member panel for civic polls
The Hindu
Cabinet resolves to ensure reservation in urban local civic bodies will not cross 50% mark
The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the decision to reimpose the earlier provision of multi-member electoral panel for the upcoming municipal corporation and council polls. The tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had scrapped the decision after coming to power, but it has now decided to change its earlier decision.
The State government had earlier amended the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965, to bring back the one-member ward system instead of multi-member electoral panel.
“The situation, ground reality brought to notice by elected representatives and importance of collective representation to carry out responsibility has led to the roll back,” said an Urban Development Department official. The decision will not be applicable for Mumbai as it is governed by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act.

In , the grape capital of India and host of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela every 12 years, environmental concerns over a plan to cut 1,800 trees for the proposed Sadhugram project in the historic Tapovan area have sharpened political fault lines ahead of local body elections. The issue has pitted both Sena factions against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. While Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief, and Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), remain political rivals, their parties have found rare common ground in Tapovan, where authorities propose clearing trees across 34 acres to build Sadhugram and a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) hub, as part of a ₹300-crore infrastructure push linked to the pilgrimage.












