Polling started on February 7, 2026, in 12 districts of Maharashtra for 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis. By 9:30 a.m., voter turnout was 7.80%. These elections are important as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions are united in an alliance after Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s death in an air crash last month. Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar voted early along with her son Parth Pawar at a school in Baramati. She appealed to citizens to take part in the voting for a better future. NCP leaders Jayant Patil and Rohit Pawar also voted early. The elections cover Zilla Parishads in Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv, and Latur. Polling will end at 5:30 p.m., and vote counting begins on February 9 at 10 a.m. Originally planned for February 5, polling was postponed due to three days of mourning after Ajit Pawar’s death on January 28. Rohit Pawar urged people to vote, saying, "By exercising our sacred right of voting, we have paid tribute to Ajitdada's vision. I appeal to everyone to exercise their democratic right and contribute to the national effort of making democracy stronger." Observers say these polls are a test for the survival and possible merging of the two NCP factions led by Ajit Pawar’s successors and Sharad Pawar. The factions joined forces in western Maharashtra's strongholds, contesting under the 'clock' symbol. While grassroots workers call this a tribute to Ajit Pawar, leaders remain cautious. NCP veteran Praful Patel called the alliance a "tactical electoral consensus," while Jayant Patil claimed a formal merger was "Ajit Pawar's last wish," expected to be announced on February 12. There are 2,624 candidates for 731 Zilla Parishad seats and 4,814 candidates for 1,462 Panchayat Samiti seats. Many seats are reserved for women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. The voter list includes over one crore men and women each, plus others. The Election Commission arranged 25,471 polling stations and deployed about 1.28 lakh officials. Voters will use electronic voting machines and cast two votes: one for Zilla Parishad and one for Panchayat Samiti, using white and pink ballot papers respectively.