MUMBAI: The state election commission (SEC) is likely to defer the scheduled local bodies' bypolls, which had been announced without political reservation for OBC. The state on Wednesday wrote to the SEC requesting that the bypolls be postponed, citing the projected third Covid-19 wave.
On Wednesday, state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte wrote to the SEC for the second time requesting the bypolls scheduled on July 19 and 20 in five zilla parishads and 33 municipal councils be postponed. The SEC had announced the programme as directed by the Supreme Court, quashing the political reservation for OBC in local bodies and to fill the vacant OBC seats through bypolls.
On Tuesday, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar informed the state assembly that the Supreme Court has now directed the SEC to take an appropriate decision on holding bypolls in local bodies.
