Maharashtra: Polling on for third phase of local body elections

Mumbai: Polling is being held on Sunday for the third phase of elections in 20 municipal councils and two nagar panchayats in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad, Nanded, Bhandara and Gadchiroli districts. [caption id=“attachment_3140908” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule at Vidhan Bhawan. File photo. PTI[/caption] The voting is on in Aurangabad and Nanded, which fall under Marathwada region, and Bhandara and Gadchiroli districts of Vidharbha region. There are 1,623 candidates in fray, including 119 for the posts of president of municipal councils. As per a report of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), there are 90 crorepati candidates in the third phase. The election to the Desaiganj municipal council in Gadchiroli has already attracted a lot of attention. The Maharashtra Election Commission has countermanded the election to one ward of the municipal council after Rashtriya Samaj Paksha president and state Dairy Development Mahadev Jankar allegedly tried to pressurise a poll official and influencing the election process. However, Jankar has denied the allegation.