MUMBAI, Sept. 17 -- The State Election Commission (SEC), which was rebuked by the Supreme Court on Tuesday and directed to hold local body polls by January 31, 2026, is expected to complete the pre-poll process by October end and announce the elections in three phases. Elections to over 685 local bodies, including 29 municipal corporations, 32 district councils, and hundreds of nagar panchayats and nagar parishads are likely to begin by October end and continue until January 31. The ward-formation process for the district councils and panchayat samitis was completed last month, while that of the municipal corporations is likely to conclude by September 25. The reservations for the wards and heads of the poll bodies as well as the ward-wise bifurcation of the voter list should be completed by October end. "The elections cannot be held before Diwali, which is in the third week of October, as government manpower and machinery cannot be burdened during the festival; also political parties do not want the electoral code of conduct to impinge on it," said an urban development department official. "The first phase of the district council and panchayat samitis could be announced immediately after Diwali and the polls conducted by November end. This will be followed by two phases of the nagar panchayat, nagar samiti and municipal corporation polls." SEC commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said the Commission was on track. "We are within the time frame set for the polls," he said. "Ward formation, reservation and finalisation of the voters list will be completed in time. We are waiting for the voters lists from the Election Commission of India and the court decisions on the reservations to district councils. We do not foresee any problem in completing the polls by January 31, 2026."...