MUMBAI, Aug. 5 -- The Supreme Court on Monday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct local body elections according to the number of wards in 2017 and the new structure of wards being finalised by the state government. The court also clarified that the OBC reservation prevailing before the submission of the Banthia Commission report in July 2022 will be considered for the local body elections, expected to be held from November. The ruling, made while hearing a case filed by a former chairperson of the Ausa municipal council in Latur district, is a relief for the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra on three major fronts -ward formation, number of wards, and the OBC quota. The OBC-quota-related ruling of 27% OBC seats in district councils and municipal corporations will help the government keep over 33,834 seats that would have been reduced, according to the Banthia Commission recommendations. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had amended the law to increase the number of seats in local bodies according to the projected rise in the population. It had also seized powers regarding the formation of wards from the SEC. Subsequently, the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government kept ward-formation powers with the government but scrapped an amendment increasing the number of wards. "Apart from upholding the Mahayuti government's decision, the court has also agreed to keep the OBC quota prevailing before the submission of the Banthia Commission recommendations, intact. The commission report had scrapped OBC reservation in many wards in local bodies and it would have deprived the OBCs from representation. OBCs have stood strongly with the Mahayuti alliance in assembly polls, and the ruling by the apex court will benefit us in the local body polls later this year," said a BJP leader. The leader added, "While increasing the number of wards of municipal corporations including Mumbai (where they were increased from 227 to 236) and Thane, the MVA had tweaked the wards in such a way that the coalition would benefit. The SC ruling has negated that risk." The ruling by the Supreme Court will help the SEC hold the local body polls as planned. "The process of ward formation for the district councils will be completed by August 25, while for municipal corporations and municipal councils, it will be completed by October 13 and 6, respectively," said an SEC official. "The finalisation of the voters' list and reservations will be conducted simultaneously and is expected to be completed by end-October. We expect the first phase of district council elections to be held after Diwali, in the second week of November," he added. He said Monday's ruling will help the SEC keep to the schedule it had set for the polls. Food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is the NCP's OBC face, said, "After the submission of the Banthia Commission report, there was a question mark lingering on the OBC quota in local body elections. The commission had recommended an OBC quota of 10% and 15% in some wards, from the flat 27% existing until then. We are happy that it will now be 27%, which has been prevailing since 1993."...