The Election Commission will announce the dates for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections today
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will unveil the schedule for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, October 15.
The Maharashtra Assembly, consisting of 288 members, will have its term end on November 26, whereas the Jharkhand Assembly, which has 81 seats, will wrap up its term on January 5, 2025.
In Maharashtra, the ruling Mahayuti coalition, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party, will face off against the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
In Jharkhand, the governing Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), part of the INDIA bloc, will challenge the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which consists of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and the BJP.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is anticipated to announce its initial candidate list for the Maharashtra elections, featuring over 60 names, in the next two days following approval from its Central Election Committee (CEC).
BJP’s national president, JP Nadda, along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, conducted an extensive meeting on Monday in New Delhi with prominent leaders from the party’s Maharashtra unit, as well as state election in-charges Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The Maharashtra unit of the party has finalized approximately 100 candidates, including current MLAs, for the Central Election Committee (CEC) to evaluate.
Simultaneously, the Congress party also held a meeting to strategize for the Maharashtra assembly elections, focusing on critical issues such as seat-sharing with allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and electoral assurances.
The party is determined to learn from the errors that contributed to its defeat in the recent Haryana elections. The meeting, led by party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in the national capital, was attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, and senior leader Balasaheb Thorat.