ECI To Announce Dates For Maharashtra, Jharkhand Polls Today
The assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand will closely follow the recently concluded assembly polls in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Election Commission of India will announce the dates for elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Maharashtra and Jharkhand on Tuesday. The poll panel will hold a press conference at 3:30 pm on Tuesday to announce the election dates. The term of the Maharashtra Assembly will end on November 26 while that of Jharkhand will end on January 5 next year.
The elections in Maharashtra are the most-awaited polls this year as they will test the electoral fate of the two major alliances, the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi amid immense political upheaval in the past five years. The MVA consisting of then united Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party along with Congress had won the last assembly elections in 2019 and formed the government with Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister.
However, the MVA had a short stint in the state government after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde turned rebel and broke away from a faction of the party toppling the Uddhav government in 2021. Shortly after, the BJP threw its weight behind the Shinde faction, making him the Chief Minister.
A year later, Sharad Pawar's NCP suffered the same fate as Ajit Pawar revolted against his uncle and joined the ruling BJP-Shinde Sena alliance. He was awarded the post of Deputy Chief Minister along with Devendra Fadnavis.
Jharkhand also witnessed high-voltage political drama with Chief Minister Hemant Soren being jailed over allegations of corruption, his resignation from the post and again assuming the office. The election becomes crucial as Soren eyes a third term which he could flaunt as a validation of "people's trust".
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party is also pulling out all its stops to give a tough fight by bringing big guns such as Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and former MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan as campaigners.
The elections in the two states will closely follow the recently concluded assembly polls in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
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