Will take legal advice, says poll panel on two state bills

Mumbai: The two bills cleared by the state legislature on Monday seek to annul the process started by the state election commission (SEC) for electoral divisions in local bodies and allow government to take over powers of delimitation and ward formation.

- Bhavika Jain

Though the bills do not have a direct impact on reservations, they may allow the state to delay local body elections, including in Mumbai, till data to validate 27% OBC reservation is collected. Officials said by cancellation of the delimitation exercise conducted by the SEC, local body elections are likely to be deferred nearly 4-6 months.

SEC officials said they will wait for the bills to be sent to them and, if need be, they will take legal advice. “At the moment, we will continue with our work as per process as we are yet to receive the bills officially,” said state election commission’s secretary Kiran Kurundkar. SEC officials said while government is empowered to make laws, taking away the powers of ward formation may interfere in the poll process and could be challenged in court. They said the delimitation exercise of nearly 11 corporations is in its final stages while the final report for three other corporations are expected in a day or two.