Mumbai: Govt on Wednesday extended the tenure of State Election Commission (SEC) member secretary Suresh Kakani by a year, indicating that the much-delayed BMC election is likely to be held within this period.
The initial appointment of Kakani, a former additional BMC commissioner, was for three years, with the provision that it would be renewed on an annual basis. At the end of one year, he was given an extension of six months, which ended on Nov 9. SEC has been headless since Sept 24 when UPS Madan’s tenure ended.
The BMC election was last held in 2017 and has been pending for two-and-a-half years. A senior urban development official said after SC’s order to maintain the status quo, polls to BMC and 28 other civic corporations, 243 municipal councils and 37 nagar panchayats were postponed. The row over the number of seats, including for each ward, and the process of ward formation are some of the issues before SC. “All pending cases have been clubbed and may be listed in Jan,” said the official.
A Congress leader said Mahayuti is keen on holding local body polls as early as possible to capitalise on its success in the state election.
—Prafulla Marpakwar
