Elections to 69 sarpanch posts lying vacant will also be held simultaneously by direct election method, said Mr Saharia.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra election commission on Thursday announced elections for the 1,041 gram panchayats  across the state on September 26. With this announcement, the model code of conduct comes into force in these areas, said state election commissioner J.H. Saharia. It means that the state government or district administration cannot take policy decisions that could impact the elections, said officials.

Elections to 69 sarpanch posts lying vacant will also be held simultaneously by direct election method, said Mr Saharia. Elections to those gram panchayats will be held on September 26. Elections to newly-constituted gram panchayats will also be held on the same day.