The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the schedule for the upcoming Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections on Tuesday. A press conference has been scheduled for 3:30 pm, during which the poll dates are expected to be announced.
The term of the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly is set to expire on 26th November, requiring the election process to be completed before then. Meanwhile, the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly’s term will conclude on 5th January 2025. With approximately 50 by-elections also pending, the ECI may use this opportunity to announce dates for those as well.
Among the key by-elections is the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition, who won from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad in June. The Congress party has already announced Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as their candidate for the Wayanad seat.
In Maharashtra, the election will see the ruling Mahayuti coalition, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), face off against the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. The latter includes the Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (NCP-SP), and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction (UBT).
In Jharkhand, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), part of the INDIA alliance, will contest against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the BJP, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), and Janata Dal (United).
As the election announcement approaches, the Maharashtra government has been busy introducing policy changes. Last week, the Maharashtra Cabinet recommended increasing the annual income limit for the OBC non-creamy layer from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. On Monday, a toll tax exemption for light motor vehicles entering Mumbai was announced.
The Maharashtra elections were initially expected to be declared alongside the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections in August. However, the Election Commission chose to separate the schedules. The Haryana and Maharashtra elections had been held together for the last three election cycles.
Explaining this decision, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar stated that Jammu and Kashmir elections, which had to be held before 30th September as per the Supreme Court’s direction, required significant deployment of security forces and therefore, only two elections could be conducted simultaneously.
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