The Supreme Court has asked the Maharashtra State Election Commission to conduct early local body polls in places which don’t have heavy rain in the monsoon. The SC was hearing MSEC’s application urging it to allow post-monsoon elections. The court had asked on May 4 to resume the election process from where it was stalled on March 11 this year, pending a decision on the other backward classes.

The SC asked why SEC can’t hold elections before the monsoon and prepare a district-wise data for trouble-free elections. There are regions in the state like Vidarbha and Marathwada where the rainfall is limited while Konkan, including Mumbai, gets incessant rain for a longer period of time. Sources said the MSEC may prepare a programme considering these aspects.