Raut Proposes All-Party Delegation To Meet ECI, Invites Fadnavis To Join

Mumbai: As Maharashtra gears up for the long-awaited local body elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday suggested forming an all-party delegation to meet senior officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to raise concerns over election transparency and fairness.

Mr. Raut also invited Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to join the delegation, which is scheduled to meet Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam on October 14 at 12:30 pm. Given the scale and risks, this move is seen as an important political step ahead of so-called “mini parliamentary elections”.

The delegation is expected to include senior opposition leaders such as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.

In a post on social media platform “Maharashtra!”

The meeting holds political significance amid allegations by the Opposition, especially the Congress party, of vote rigging during the Maharashtra Assembly elections in November 2024.

Of the 780 local bodies in rural and urban areas spread across the state’s 36 districts, 687 are currently under the control of administrators, with elections long overdue. These polls will mark the first major showdown between the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) after the landslide victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in last year’s assembly elections. The contests, covering urban and rural local bodies across the state, are perceived as mini-council elections.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Raut said that the meeting with the ECI was just a formality as the poll panel would not do anything. “We will raise our concerns before the ECI. The all-party delegation will meet Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S. Chockalingam at 12.30 pm on October 14,” he said.

Mr. Raut also said that he had also invited two other parties of the ruling Mahayuti alliance: Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.