Mumbai, Thane, Pune civic polls on Feb 21, results on Feb 23

Mumbai: The elections to 10 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on February 21, the State Election Commission announced on Wednesday.

Counting of votes will take place on February 23, State Election Commissioner JS Saharia told reporters here. The other big corporations where the polls will be held include Pune and Thane.

The elections to 25 zilla parishads will also be held in two phases, on February 16 and 21, Saharia said.

With the announcement of the poll schedule, the election code of conduct has come into effect from today.

Though the elections will be held in 10 municipal corporations, the focus will be on the country's richest civic body, the BMC.

Leaders of BJP and Shiv Sena have so far spoken of their willingness for an alliance in these polls. However, there is no announcement yet of any seat-sharing formula.

In the 2012 polls, of the 227 seats in the BMC, Shiv Sena had contested from 158 seats and won 75, whereas the BJP had contested from 69 seats and won 32.

The BJP, which won the maximum number of seats in the recent municipal council and nagar parishad polls, is eyeing more seats this time around.

The current terms of Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Akola, Solapur, Amravati and Nagpur civic bodies end in March.

The HSC examinations will be held between February 28 and March 25 and the SSC exams between March 7 and 29.

In 2012, the BMC elections were held on February 16 and the new House of the BMC was formed on March 8.

The electoral roll for the BMC and other municipal corporations, as on January 1, has been updated on the SEC website.