The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the dates for the elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. The voting for the Maharashtra assembly polls will be held in a single phase on November 20. The counting of the votes will be held on November 23 and the results will be declared the same day.
There are 9.63 crore voters in Maharashtra, including 4.97 crore men, 4.66 crore women, and 20.93 Lakh first-time voters, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar stated. There are 36 districts in Maharashtra, with a total of 299 seats including 234 General seats, 25 Schedule Tribe seats, and 29 Schedule Caste seats.
Maharashtra Assembly Election Schedule 2024
| Poll Events | Dates |
| Date of Issue of Gazette Notification | 22.10.2024 (Tuesday) |
| Nomination deadline | 29.10.2024 (Tuesday) |
| Nomination Scrutiny | 30.10.2024 (Wednesday) |
| Last date to withdraw nominations | 04.11.2024 (Monday) |
| Date of Voting | 20.11.2024 (Wednesday) |
| Date of Counting and Results Announcement | 23.11.2024 (Saturday) |
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are the most-awaited this year because of the immense political upheaval in the past five years. The last assembly elections in 2019 were won by the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition of the Congress, the NCP, and the Shiv Sena. Uddhav Thackeray, leader of the Shiv Sena (then united), ascended to the Chief Minister's chair.
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MVA Rebellions After 2019 Polls
However, the MVA government was short-lived as Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde orchestrated a rebellion and weaned away several MLAs of the party leading to the fall of the Uddhav Government. Following this, Eknath Shinde, backed by the BJP, became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
This was followed by another rebellion in the Mahayuti a year later — Ajit Pawar's revolt against uncle Sharad Pawar in the Nationalist Congress Party. Ajit Pawar, too, joined the Shinde Sena-BJP alliance and was rewarded with the Deputy CM's chair.
Rift In Mahayuti Ahead Of 2024 Assembly Polls
In the Lok Sabha elections this year, the Mahayuti alliance (Shinde Sena-BJP-Ajit Pawar's NCP) got fewer than expected seats. After the Lok Sabha elections, rifts started appearing in the Mahayuti as the BJP's ideological parent Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) seemed to blame the inclusion of Ajit Pawar in the alliance. Moreover, the RSS cadre reportedly refused to campaign for the NCP, a party which the BJP had been opposing for years.
Now, even the Shiv Sena seems to be at loggerheads with the NCP, with one of its ministers, Tanaji Sawant, claiming that he had to puke after sitting next to NCP leaders at Cabinet meetings. Of late, nearly every major incident or event in the state has been marked by the rift between the Mahyuti parties — be it Shiv Sena and NCP's war of words over Ganesh Chaturthi or Ajit Pawar's 'silent protest' over the Shivaji statue collapse.
Moreover, the BJP faces discontent from Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena over "unfair" Cabinet portfolio allocation and its Lok Sabha polls campaign strategy, which hurt the alliance.
Maratha Quota Protests
The protests over the Maratha quota protest demand, spearheaded by activist Manoj Jarange, have compounded matters for the Mahayuti. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Manoj Jarange urged his supporters not to vote for "those who opposed securing reservation for their community," indirectly referring to the BJP and its allies.
The Maratha quota protests saw a deep impact on the BJP's vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, especially in the Marathwada region which has 48 assembly seats. The Mahayuti lost 7 of the 8 seats in the Marathwada region in eastern Maharashtra. Among the losers was BJP's five-time MP from Jalna Raosaheb Dadarao Danve Patil. Marathas comprise over 30% of Maharashtra's population.
Moreover, right before the assembly elections, the Mahayuti government has been hit by a number of allegations, including poor administration, mishandling of law & order, and corruption.