The cloud of uncertainties over the local body elections in the state has become denser, with an NCP leader from Pune moving the Supreme Court challenging the state government’s decision to go back to electoral wards finalised ahead of the 2017 polls. The petition has tied the hands of the State Election Commission (SEC), which is awaiting the decision of the SC before moving ahead. 

After taking charge, the Eknath Shinde government reversed the decision of the MVA alliance tied to local body polls, effectively rendering the earlier election-related work useless. Now, the local bodies, including BMC, and the SEC will have to repeat a lot of processes further delaying the elections. Sources said the BMC has already spent R50 lakh on the poll work.