Ajit Pawar's death casts shadow on zilla parishads, panchayat samiti polls; voting moved to February 7, counting on Feb 9

Maharashtra's Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections, initially set for February 5, have been postponed to February 7 due to a three-day mourning period for Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Vote counting will now occur on February 9. The Supreme Court had granted an extension for these polls, which will see 731 ZP seats and 1,462 Panchayat Samiti seats contested.