New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the schedule for Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections on Tuesday.
The Commission will hold a press conference at 3.30 p.m. at the Plenary Hall of Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital.
The term of the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly will end on November 26, and that of the Jharkhand Assembly, with 81 seats, will end on January 5, 2025.
The whole poll process has to be completed before that, as per the rules.
Around 50 by-polls are also due, and the ECI will likely announce the election dates for these.
In September, a team comprising top officials from the ECI was in Mumbai to assess the preparations for the upcoming Assembly Elections in Maharashtra. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, met with district collectors and superintendents of police and political representatives.
In September, the ECI team also toured Jharkhand to assess the situation there. The team, led by CEC Rajiv Kumar and ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, held discussions with political parties and officials. Representatives of six national parties, including BJP, Congress, and CPI (M), and three regional parties—JMM, RJD, and AJSU—gave their views and submitted their representation to the Election Commission.
The model code of conduct will also come into effect with the schedule to be announced by the ECI.
Both states’ political parties will name their candidates and begin campaigning.
In Maharashtra, the contest is chiefly between the ruling Mahayuti coalition—the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party—and the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
In Jharkhand, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress alliance (the INDIA bloc) will face off against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and the BJP.
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–IANS
