The Election Commission of India said on Thursday that the biennial elections for nine seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, including the seat vacated by former Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray, will be held on May 12 along with bypolls for one seat.
As per the poll schedule, voting for all 10 seats will be held between 9am and 4pm on May 12. The counting of votes will take place on the same day at 5 pm and the entire process will be completed by May 13.
The term of nine members of the Legislative Council is scheduled to end on May 13, necessitating elections.
Apart from Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, eight other retired members are Legislative Council Speaker Neelam Diwakar Gurhe (Shiv Sena), Sanjay Kishanrao Knekar (BJP), Sandeep Diwakar Joshi (BJP), Dadarao Yadavrao Kesh (BJP), Ranjitsinh Vijaysenh Mohit Patel (BJP), Amol Ramkrishna Mitkari. (NCP), Rajesh Dondiram Rathod (Congress), and Shashikant Jaywantrao Shinde (NCP – SP).
The nine seats will go to the polls as part of the regular biennial elections, while separate by-elections will be held to fill the vacancy due to the resignation of Congress MP Pradnya Satav. The term of Satav, who has joined the BJP, was originally scheduled to end on July 27, 2030.
Separate voting processes will be followed for the nine seats and the by-poll seat, requiring MLAs to cast their votes twice on the same day, the ECI said.
The quota for winning a seat in the biennial elections is set at 29 votes, while by-elections require 144 votes.
If newly elected members from Baramati and Rahuri assembly constituencies (whose by-elections are scheduled to be held on April 23) become eligible to vote, the quota could rise to 145 by-elections.
Principal Secretary (Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council) Jitendra Bholi has been appointed as returning officer for the nine seats, while Vilas Athawale will supervise the by-election process.
Given the current strength in the assembly, the ruling Mahayoti alliance is expected to win a majority of seats comfortably. The BJP-led alliance is likely to get as many as nine out of ten seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is likely to win just one seat.
The by-pass seat, which has a higher vote share, is also likely to go to the BJP, and Satav is likely to be nominated again.
The poll schedule stipulates that notification will be issued on April 23, the last date for submitting nominations is April 30, scrutiny will take place on May 2, and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is May 4.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal said there were earlier discussions during the Rajya Sabha elections that his party would support Uddhav Thackeray if he opted for a seat in the legislative council, but any other proposal would require further deliberations among MVA voters.
He said his party expects to contest the seat if Thackeray does not seek renomination.
The Congress leader made the demand citing NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha as the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate recently despite the Congress’ desire to contest those elections.
In the by-poll, Sapkal also claimed that the vacant seat earlier belonged to the Congress and should be returned to the party as per the political understanding.
