MUMBAI, Nov. 5 -- The first phase of elections to local self-governing bodies will be held on December 2, covering 246 municipal councils that govern smaller cities, and 42 municipal panchayats, or town councils. That's 288 local bodies of a total 686 across the state. The remaining two phases, for district councils and municipal corporations including Mumbai, are expected to be held in the last week of December and third week of January, respectively. The schedule for the elections, considered a mini-assembly election, was announced by the State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday. The SEC said there would be no revision of voters' lists, as demanded by opposition parties, or the use of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). Voters whose names are listed more than once will have to specify from where they want to vote. State election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said the first phase covers 10.7 million voters, or over 10% of the electorate. A total of 6,859 seats will be contested in 3,820 wards, of which 895 are reserved for scheduled castes, 338 for scheduled tribes and 1,821 for the other backward classes. Votes will be counted and the results declared on December 3. Nominations will be filed between November 10 and 17, with the last day for withdrawal of nominations being November 25. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Waghmare addressed the controversial issue of repetition of names on the electoral rolls. He directed local bodies to flag "duplicate voters", whose names are registered in multiple wards with the help of software applications. "Booth-level officers will contact these voters to ascertain where they want to vote from, and alert the returning officers at the booths where they are registered," he said. "If the voters cannot be contacted, presiding officers at the booths will be given a list of these voters. If they do turn up to vote, they will have to provide an undertaking that they will not vote at other wards where their names are registered," he added. Opposition parties, however, continued their charge against the SEC on the issue of alleged "vote theft". Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, said, "I am now convinced that the autonomy of the election commission remains only on paper. It has become a puppet in the hands of the ruling parties." Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab accused the SEC of acting at the behest of its "master", the ruling BJP, while state Congress chief Harshavardhan Sakpal remarked, "The SEC, which is tasked with conducting elections in a free and fair manner, is acting under pressure from the government. The commission is pushing forward with the election, pointing at the Supreme Court ruling, but voters are all set to teach them a lesson in democratic way." Revenue minister and BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed the opposition is in a "defeated mindset", as they anticipate defeat in the polls. The voters' lists used in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections are being used in the local body polls. Despite this, the opposition is trying to set a fake narrative and spreading lies." On allegations of duplicate entries in the voter's lists and the registration of voters at non-existent addresses, Waghmare said, "We do not have any control over the electoral rolls as they have been adopted from the Election Commission of India. We have undertaken a drive to ensure that repeated voters do not vote at more than one booth." On why the SEC is not holding elections only after the electoral rolls are updated, he said they were conducting the elections according to the orders of the Supreme Court, which had directed the SEC to complete the process by January 31, 2026. The elections, being held at least three years after the local bodies' terms ended, will be a litmus test for political parties. "Although only 10% of the electorate in the state will vote in the municipal council and nagar panchayat elections, more than 50% vote for municipal corporation and district council elections. This means the second and third phases will be crucial. The results of the first phase will set the tone and tenor of the mood of the voters," said a leader from the BJP....