Maharashtra government increases civic poll deposit to Rs5,000

Maharashtra government has increased the deposit for contesting civic polls from Rs3,000 to Rs5,000.

The urban development department issued a notification recently on the modified rules in schedule D of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (BPMC) Act, 1949.

Now candidates would be required to deposit Rs5,000 to contest an election from a ward of municipal corporations. For candidates belonging to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, other backward class (OBC) and women categories, the deposit will be Rs2,500.

Elections to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are due in February 2012. The deposit is forfeited if the candidate fails to get one-eighth of the total number of valid votes polled.

Director of Centre for Development Planning and Research (CDPR), Yashwant Thakar, told DNA that the increase in the deposit is not likely to deter non-serious candidates from contesting elections. “As candidates spend a lot of money during elections, the increase in deposit would hardly make any difference to them,” he said.

CDPR had conducted two opinion polls during the last civic elections in Pune and Mumbai.

Leader of the house and group leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Nilesh Nikam, said the deposit should not have been increased as the common man could not contest elections.

Independent corporator Ujwal Keskar said that the decision to increase deposit is justified, considering the rising inflation.