The elections in the Maharashtra state assembly were held on November 20, 2024, and the assembly schedule will end on November 26, 2024.
Date of Announcement: Tuesday, October 15, 2024Gazette Notification: Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Last Date of Making Nominations: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Scrutiny of Nominations: Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Last Date of Withdrawal of Candidatures: Monday, November 04, 2024
Polling date: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Counting of Votes Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
Elections in Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha
State overview
The state of Maharashtra is situated in the western region of India. The Arabian Sea borders it to its left. It is the second most populous state in India after Uttar Pradesh. Moreover, it ranks third in India among all the states in terms of area covered. Maharashtra is also among the wealthiest states in the country. Its share of India's GDP is 13.3% making it one of the richest states in India. The Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra is the lower house of the bicameral legislature. Presently, the election in Maharashtra is done directly by electing 288 members of the Legislative Assembly from the single-seat constituencies, and one member is nominated.
Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha constituencies
The number of constituencies in 1960 in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha was 264. Out of which 33 constituencies were reserved for the candidates from the scheduled castes and 14 were reserved for the candidates from the scheduled tribes. However, in the third Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha (1967–72), the total number of constituencies was increased by 6 to become 270 members in the assembly. According to the new arrangement, 15 constituencies were reserved for the candidates of the scheduled castes and 16 for the candidates of the scheduled tribes. Currently, out of the 288 constituencies, 29 are reserved for candidates from the scheduled castes (SC), and 25 are reserved for candidates from the scheduled tribes (SC).
Election Commission of Maharashtra
The State Election Commission of Maharashtra was established in the year 1994, according to the provisions of Articles 243 K & 243 ZA of the Constitution of India. These provisions are responsible for conducting all the rural and urban local body's elections.
Maharashtra Election background
The election in Maharashtra for its legislative assembly was held on November 20, 2024, in a single phase, to elect the 288 members. The result is to be announced on November 23, 2024. During the elections in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 105 seats, Shiv Sena won 56 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 54 seats, and the Indian National Congress (INC) won 44 seats. In this election, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, comprising Shiv Sena, NCP, and INC, was victorious, and the BJP-led faction became the opposition. From this newly formed coalition, Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the chief minister of the state.
Current Political Landscape of Maharashtra: Key Players and Alliances
The voters in Maharashtra had to cast their votes while deciding among two major alliances: the Mahayuti coalition, led by the BJP, Shiv Sena, and a faction of the NCP, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, a united front of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP.
This election has presented a very unique picture as the party fractions within the Shiv Sena and NCP are contesting the election alongside and against known rivals.
The Mahayuti Alliance
The Mahayuti Alliance is the current ruling party in the state, comprising the BJP, a faction of Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and a faction of NCP led by Ajit Pawar. This alliance is aiming to retain power in Maharashtra. The BJP is planning to contest in the highest number of constituencies, i.e., 148. The Chief Minister's faction of the Shiv Sena is fielding candidates in 80 seats, whereas the NCP has nominated candidates in 53 seats. The remaining seats have been allotted to smaller parties.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)
In this alliance, the Congress emerged as the party that would contest the most number of seats, i.e., 101. After this comes the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which will contest on 94 seats, and Sharad Pawar's NCP will contest on 88 seats.
Sena Vs Sena and NCP vs NCP
The two factions of the Shiv Sena are now led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, respectively. There are more than 50 seats in which these two will be facing each other. In the Worli area of Mumbai, a significant battle will be witnessed as Shinde has placed MP Milind Deora against MLA Aaditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav Thackeray.
On the other hand, there is the NCP vs. NCP battle. One of the factions is led by Ajit Pawar, who joined the Mahayuti Alliance, and the other faction belongs to Sharad Pawar, part of the MVA. These two factions will come head to head in more than 30 seats, more particularly in Western Maharashtra.
| List of the Assembly Constituencies in Maharashtra |
Last Updated on: November 22, 2024