Assembly polls to be held in Maharashtra on 20 November
The Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections will be held across two phases beginning November 13, the Election Commission said Tuesday.
Jharkhand will vote in two phases – on November 13 and November 20, and Maharashtra will vote in one phase – on November 20.
Counting of votes for both states will take place on November 23, the poll panel said.
Dates were also announced for some Lok Sabha bypolls, including Kerala’s Wayanad seat. Rahul Gandhi has given up the seat because he also won the family bastion of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.
In Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the (then undivided) Shiv Sena dominated, winning 161 of 288 seats. However, the alliance broke down over sharing of power and the Sena joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress to form the government.
That government, however, lasted only till 2023; rebellions by the Sena’s Eknath Shinde – now the Chief Minister – and the NCP’s Ajit Pawar – now Mr Shinde’s deputy – forced then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to resign and his coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi government to fall.