The Election Commission of India is set to announce the schedule for Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections on Tuesday.

A press conference has been called by the poll body at 3.30 pm today in the Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi. Schedule for the assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand will be announced in it. Notably, the term of Maharashtra Assembly will end on November 26, while the term of Jharkhand Assembly will end on January 5, 2025.

Maharashtra Assembly Elections

There are 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra and the upcoming Assembly elections will feature a two-way contest between the MVA and MYA. Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition comprises of Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress, while the ruling Mahayuti Alliance, includes the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction).

In the recent parliamentary elections, the BJP-led MYA won just 17 of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP’s share fell to 9 seats, down from 23 five years ago. Meanwhile, the Maha Vikas Aghadi–comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar) had secured 30 seats.

The BJP and undivided Shiv Sena formed the government in 2019 but later split following some political drama. In the 2019 assembly election, the BJP won 105 seats and the Congress won 44 seats.

Jharkhand Assembly Elections

The term of the Jharkhand State Assembly will expire on January 5, 2025, with elections scheduled for 81 constituencies (44 General, 9 SC, 28 ST) across the state.

Jharkhand is expected to hold elections for its 81-member legislative assembly by December 2024.

A delegation from the ECI, led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on September 24 conducted a thorough review of poll preparedness for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jharkhand at Ranchi, directing central and state enforcement agencies to curb the influence of money power.

Jharkhand conducted polling in five phases, whereas Maharashtra had just one phase in the2019 elections.

Speaking to ANI, BJP national spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari said, “BJP and NDA is fully prepared for Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections. We are confident that like Haryana, Maharashtra will vote for a pro-incumbency government which is the BJP-led NDA government.”

“The people of Jharkhand are frustrated because of vote bank and corrupt politics of Hemant Soren and they are eager to vote for a pro-development, pro-tribal government under the BJP. We are confident that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, both the state governments will see a BJP government,” he added.

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