Co-operative society elections postponed in drought districts — but housing societies are excluded: Co-operation Department order of 27 October 2026

Reports over the past week said co-operative society elections across Maharashtra have been put on hold because of the drought. Housing society committees have been asking whether their own election is postponed too. The order says it is not.

What the order does

On 27 October 2026 the Co-operation Department issued a Government Order (शासन आदेश) under Section 73CC of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act 1960.

Section 73CC, as the order sets it out, lets the State Government postpone a co-operative society election by a general or special order in two situations: where scarcity, drought, flood, fire or any other natural calamity or the monsoon makes it so; and where scarcity, drought, flood, fire, hail or any other natural calamity has affected farmers, agricultural labourers or other persons on a large scale so that the number of voters has fallen and is likely to rise again as a government rehabilitation scheme is implemented. In either case the State Government must be of the view that holding the election would not be in the public interest.

The order postpones the elections of all co-operative societies in the districts in which the Government has declared drought, from whatever stage each election has reached, with effect from 27 October 2026 and until further orders.

The three exclusions

The operative paragraph takes three categories out of the postponement:

• •co-operative housing societies (सहकारी गृहनिर्माण संस्था);
• •societies in whose case the High Court or the Supreme Court has directed that an election be held;
• •societies whose nomination stage (नामनिर्देशनाचा टप्पा) had already begun before the date of the order.

A housing society's committee election is therefore not postponed by this order, wherever the society is and whether or not its district has been declared drought-affected.

What led to the order

The order recites two Relief and Rehabilitation Department resolutions, of 25 September 2026 and 14 October 2026. Under the Drought Management Code 2016, Trigger-1 was found to apply in 265 talukas on the Agriculture Commissioner's report for the Kharif 2026 season; on Trigger-1 and Trigger-2 information the resolution of 14 October 2026 then declared 304 talukas drought-affected. The Department's stated reason is that officers and staff would otherwise be drawn into election work and away from drought relief, and that farmers and members in the affected areas would find taking part inconvenient now.

One wrinkle worth noting: the recitals speak of 304 talukas, while the operative paragraph postpones elections in the drought-declared districts. For a housing society the difference does not matter, because housing societies are excluded either way.

What this means for a housing society committee

Nothing in this order moves your election. The order's opening recital records that co-operative society elections in the State are carried out through the State Co-operative Election Authority under Section 73CB, and this order leaves that untouched. For a housing society of 250 members or fewer, the proviso to Section 73CB has the society itself conduct the committee election in the manner prescribed. Either way, a committee that allows its term to run out on the assumption that the drought order covers its society gets no protection from this order.

If your society's election programme has been notified, keep to it. If you are unsure who may stand and who may vote, see who can contest and who can vote in a housing society committee election; and if a member is left off the voters' list, the route is an election petition, not a writ.

Source document

Read the full order: https://gr.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/Upload/Government%20Resolutions/Marathi/202610272110202047.pdf