Maharashtra
SC verdict: Maharashtra to conduct local bodies polls with OBC quotas
With the Supreme Court’s nod to the J.K. Banthia Commission Report on political reservations for Other Backward Class, Maharashtra has set the ball rolling to conduct the delayed elections to various local bodies in the state.
In what will be a sort of ‘mini-general election’, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) sources said it will go ahead with the programme for the polls in 367 local bodies wherever due.
There are a total of 23 Municipal Corporations, 220 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats, 25 Zilla Parishads and 284 Panchayat Samitis across the state.
The development came after Supreme Court accepted the J.K. Banthia Commission Report recommending 27 per cent reservations overall, with the SEC likely to declare the local bodies election schedule within two weeks, as directed by the apex court on Wednesday.
The panel headed by a former state chief secretary, was set up by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in March 2022, to collate the empirical data of the OBC communities scattered around the state, with plans to hold a caste-based Census before the government collapsed on June 29.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party leaders like Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, Congress’ Nana Patole, Vijay Wadettivar and Atul Londhe, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chandrakant Patil and Pankaja Munde, among many others from different parties and OBC leaders have welcomed the Supreme Court verdict.
The Banthia Commission had submitted its report to the state government on July 7, recommending reservations for OBC peoples’ representatives to work in major positions in Panchayat Samitis, Zilla Parishads, Nagar Panchayats, Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations in the state.
The state government moved an application in the Supreme Court seeking for directions to hold the local bodies elections under the relevant laws and notifying a reservation pattern as per the Banthia Commission report of July 7.
As per the last Maharashtra Economic Survey (2021-2022), the state has 27,831 Gram Panchayats, 351 Panchayat Samitis, 34 Zilla Parishads, 128 Nagar Panchayats, 241 Municipal Councils and 27 Municipal Corporations as the local bodies.
With the implementation of the 27 per cent OBC political quotas, the top posts like Mayor in Municipal Corporations, heads in municipal councils, chairpersons in Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis will be given to peoples’ representatives from the OBCs.
There are 295 OBCs including various tribals and special backward category communities who are likely to get the fruits of the new political reservations, though it will not apply to certain districts where the SC/ST population is already 50 per cent.
In Maharashtra, based on the Census data and the voters lists, an estimated 37 per cent of the population falls under the OBCs, as per the Banthia Commission Report, though its percentage varies from one region to another.
Maharashtra
40 rain shelters, 08 unauthorized shops, 30 hawkers, 06 vehicular paths removed, joint action by ‘T’, ‘S’ and ‘N’ departments of Mumbai Municipal Corporation

The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is implementing the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign in the Mumbai region (Mumbai city and suburbs). Under this, 40 rain shelters, 08 unauthorized shops and 30 hawkers obstructing footpaths were removed today (August 11, 2026) in the Milind area. This action was taken jointly by the ‘T’, ‘S’ and ‘N’ divisions of the Municipal Corporation. As per the directions of the High Court, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation under the guidance of Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide is effectively implementing the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign to immediately remove unauthorized hawkers and encroachments on footpaths and to make the footpaths free from obstructions.
In this regard, a joint campaign was conducted under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner (T Division) under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner (Zone-6) Santosh Kumar Dhonde. Assistant Commissioner (S Division) Samrin Syed, Assistant Commissioner (N Division) Jaideep More
The operation was carried out in the areas of Ram Ratan Trivedi Marg, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Sivaram Lalwani Marg, Ratanji Hirji Bhograj Marg, Jhaveer Marg and Ganesh Gawde Marg as well as Lokmanya Tilak Marg (West) in the ‘T’ zone of the Municipal Corporation. In this, 40 rain shelters built on the footpaths, 08 unauthorized shops, 30 hawkers and 06 carriageways that were obstructing the footpaths were removed. Apart from this, the material obstructing the footpaths was also seized.
The operation was carried out with the help of 10 vehicles, 05 dumpers, 05 JCBs and other equipment along with 13 secondary engineers, 07 licensing inspectors, 66 workers working in Zone 6. Adequate police security was deployed at that time.
Meanwhile, the municipal administration is committed to providing barrier-free and easy footpaths for pedestrians. However, no one should create obstacles on the footpath or carry out unauthorized constructions. The municipal administration is telling that strict action will be taken if this happens.
Maharashtra
Mumbai Mankhurd ATM card fraud two accused arrested

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police has claimed to have arrested two accused who committed fraud by changing ATM cards. On August 5, the complainant had gone to the ATM center at Mangal Murthy Junction to withdraw money. While withdrawing money from the ATM, an unknown person standing behind her saw the PIN of the card. After that, she cleverly changed the ATM rod and withdrew Rs 19,000. The police have registered a case of fraud in this matter and started investigating it. The police had seen three suspicious people from the CCTV footage of the scene who were found withdrawing money from the ATM card. After that, the police identified the accused with the help of CCTV footage. Later, they were arrested. The accused have been identified as Qasim Ali Barkat Ali, 30, and Parvez Akbar Ali Sheikh, 38, both residents of Kalyan. The police are investigating further regarding both of them. Along with this, the police are also finding out how many people they have cheated before. This action was taken by DCP Sameer Sheikh on the instructions of Additional Commissioner Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Maharashtra
7 accused arrested in cyber fraud case of over Rs 1 crore in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Cyber Police Station has claimed to have solved the mystery of a cyber crime in which the complainant was threatened with digital arrest on WhatsApp from April 2 to April 18, 2026, and was involved in a money laundering case and was defrauded of Rs 16.74 crore online by sending fake electronic documents. During the technical investigation, the police have arrested 7 accused, identified as Sanjay Hiralal, 57, who used to generate OTPs, the 32-year-old female accused used to hide the fraudulent money, Rishi Ramchandra Meena, 38, who used to transfer the fraudulent money to bank accounts, Naushad Ali, 31, who digitally arrested the complainant and the victim and worked in this gang digitally, Muhammad Khalid Hafeezuddin Saif, 27, a digital expert, Jogesh Mehta, 43, and Zubair Hussain, 27, who helped them deposit the fraudulent money in their accounts. 613 mobile phones, 2 laptops, 5 digital sign devices were recovered from the possession of the accused. SIM cards of several companies, 10 cheque books, 2 passbooks and 2 ATM cards have been seized. DCP Bajrang Bansode told the press conference that there is no such thing as digital arrest and in such a situation, do not keep in touch on unknown social media accounts. If someone threatens digital arrest, do not believe them.
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