There will be one round of elections for the Maharashtra Assembly on November 20, 2024. The dates have been publicly announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI). On November 23, 2024, the votes will be counted. The news was made at a press conference on October 15, 2024, at 3:30 PM IST, where Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar talked about the election process in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
Background and Importance of the Elections
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are very important because they will change the government of one of India’s biggest states. The term of the present assembly ends on November 26, 2024, so the election process needs to be finished before that date. The parliamentary race is likely to be very close, with two main groups competing:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power, is part of the Maharashtrian Alliance. So are Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena group and Ajit Pawar’s NCP group.
Maha Vikas Aghadi is an opposition group made up of the Congress party, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.
In the background of these elections are higher political pressures because of recent events like the death of NCP leader Baba Siddique, which has made rivalries between groups stronger. The opposition has criticised the government led by Eknath Shinde for what they see as failings in law and order. This has made things tense as the real campaigning starts.
Important Information from the Note
Election Day: November 20, 2024
November 23, 2024, is the date of the count.
There are a total of 288 places in the Maharashtra Assembly.
What’s Going on in Politics Right Now: The BJP wants to keep its power after doing well in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. Since they won a lot of Lok Sabha seats earlier this year, the opposition alliance is feeling good.
Elections in Jharkhand
Along with Maharashtra, the ECI said that polls would also be held in Jharkhand, whose assembly term ends on January 5, 2025. The group led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha wants to run against the BJP’s coalition in all 81 seats.
