Maharashtra Assembly elections in single phase on Nov 20, Jharkhand to vote in 2 phases; results on Nov 23
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The Election Commission on Tuesday declared the schedule for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
While Jharkhand will vote in two phases on November 13 and November 20, Maharashtra will witness a single-phase election on November 20. The votes for both states will be counted on November 23.
In the 2019 Jharkhand elections, Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is part of the Congress-led INDIA bloc, secured 47 out of the state’s 82 seats. In Maharashtra, the BJP and the (then-united) Shiv Sena won 161 of the 288 seats. However, the alliance later split over power-sharing disagreements, leading to the Shiv Sena joining forces with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form a new government, which lasted until 2023.
The current Maharashtra government saw significant shifts when factions of the Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, rebelled, eventually forcing Uddhav Thackeray to step down as Chief Minister. The BJP is now governing Maharashtra in coalition with the Shiv Sena and NCP factions.
These elections are the final state polls for 2024, with the BJP hoping to continue its winning streak after significant victories earlier in the year, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term win in the General Election. The party also secured notable victory in Haryana and Odisha, where it made history by forming its first-ever government in Odisha and achieving a third consecutive victory in Haryana.
For the Congress, these elections are critical after recent setbacks, including a loss in Haryana where it was expected to win, and a decline in Jammu and Kashmir’s elections. The party has been under pressure to rethink its strategy, especially concerning seat-sharing with regional allies, after criticism from opposition leaders and party factions.
