Polling started at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 2, in Maharashtra's first phase of local body elections. Voting continues till 5:30 p.m. across 264 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. A total of 6,042 seats and 264 posts of Council Presidents are contested. Nearly one crore voters are eligible to vote. Officials have set up 12,316 polling stations with 62,108 polling staff across the state. Security arrangements are in place to ensure peaceful voting. The State Election Commission deployed 17,367 control units and 34,734 ballot units. The contest is intense between the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Friendly fights and subtle competition also exist within alliances, especially between BJP and Shiv Sena factions. The election schedule, announced on November 4, has faced legal challenges. Due to appeals and court cases, polling in 24 local bodies and 154 seats across 76 councils and Nagar Panchayats has been postponed to December 20. The BJP has already secured 100 unopposed councillor seats and three Municipal President posts. The Election Commission introduced special measures to prevent duplicate voting, including double stars marked on suspected names and stringent ID checks. Voters can access candidate details and affidavits through a new mobile app. These elections are seen as a test of political mood in Maharashtra, a year after BJP-led Mahayuti's assembly win. Voting for the remaining 29 Municipal Corporations, 32 Zilla Parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis, including Mumbai, are yet to be scheduled. The Supreme Court has directed completion of all pending polls by January 31, 2026. Votes will be counted on December 3.