Pune: PMC And PCMC Elections To Be Held On 15th January 2026
Pune, 15th December 2025: The State Election Commission (SEC) of Maharashtra has announced that municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC) will be held on January 15, 2026, with vote counting scheduled for January 16, 2026. The announcement brings the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) into immediate effect in these cities, marking the start of regulated campaigning ahead of the state’s local body polls.
The SEC said Pune and PCMC, along with 27 other municipal corporations across Maharashtra, will go to polls on the same date. Pune follows a multi-member system, as does PCMC, while Mumbai will be conducted under a single-member system. The elections will use the voter list as of July 1, 2025, with duplicate entries verified and marked with two stars.
Election Timeline
Application Filing: December 23–30, 2025
Scrutiny of Applications: December 31, 2025
Withdrawal of Applications: January 2, 2026
Final List of Candidates: January 3, 2026
Polling: January 15, 2026
Counting of Votes: January 16, 2026
Administrative Arrangements
To oversee the elections, the SEC has appointed 290 election officers, 870 assistant election officers, and 1,96,605 staff members. The number of star campaigners has been increased from 20 to 40 to allow regulated campaigning.
Seats and Expenditure Limits
Across the 29 municipal corporations, including Pune and PCMC, a total of 2,869 seats will be contested, of which 1,442 are reserved for women, 341 for Scheduled Castes (SC), and 77 for Scheduled Tribes (ST). Expenditure limits for candidates are as follows:
‘A’ category corporations – ₹15 lakh
‘B’ category – ₹13 lakh
‘C’ category – ₹11 lakh
‘D’ category – ₹9 lakh
State-Wide Poll Details
Along with Pune and PCMC, major corporations going to polls include Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Akola, Amravati, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Chandrapur, Dhule, Ichalkaranji, Jalgaon, Jalna, Latur, Malegaon, Nanded-Waghala, Panvel, Parbhani, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Ulhasnagar, Vasai-Virar, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad).
With the MCC now in effect, political parties and candidates are prohibited from announcing new schemes or making policy decisions that could influence voters, ensuring a level playing field ahead of the civic polls.
