Elections in Maharashtra Assembly 2019 Dates and Schedule
The elections in Maharashtra state assembly will be held on October 21, 2019. The ongoing assembly schedule is going to end on October 24, 2019
Date of Announcement: Saturday, 21st September 2019
Issue of Gazette Notification: Friday, 27th September 2019
Last Date of Making Nominations: Friday, 4th October 2019
Scrutiny of Nominations: Saturday, 5th October 2019
Last Date of Withdrawal of Candidatures: Monday, 7th October 2019
Polling date: Monday, 21st October 2019
Counting of Votes Date: Thursday, 24th October 2019
Maharashtra Election Candidates List
Elections in Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha
State overview
The state of Maharashtra is situated in the western region of India. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to its left. It is the second most populous state in India after Uttar Pradesh. Moreover, it ranks third in India among all the states when it comes to area covered. Maharashtra is also among the wealthiest states in the country. Its share of India's GDP is 14.95% making it one of the richest states in India. The Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra is the lower house of the bicameral legislature. Presently, the election in Maharashtra is done directly by electing 288 members of the Legislative Assembly from the single-seat constituencies and one member is nominated.
Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha constituencies
The number of constituencies in 1960 in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha was 264. Out of which 33 constituencies were reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled castes and 14 were reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled tribes. However, in the third Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha (1967-72), the total number of constituencies was increased by 6 to become 270 members in the assembly. According to the new arrangement, 15 constituencies were reserved for the candidates belonging to the scheduled castes and 16 were reserved for the candidates belonging to the scheduled tribes. Currently, out of the 288 constituencies, 29 constituencies are reserved for the candidates belonging to the scheduled castes and 25 are reserved for the candidates belonging to the scheduled tribes.
BJP single largest party in 2014
The elections in Maharashtra for its legislative assembly were held on 15 October 2014, in a single phase, to select the 288 members. The result was announced on 19 October 2019. During the elections in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 2014 Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party. The saffron party bagged 122 seats. Shiv Sena won 63 seats. Both the parties fought the elections separately. Meanwhile Congress failed to entice the voters and got only 42 seats and NCP bagged 41 seats. The first meeting of the new house was held on November 10, 2014. Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Election background
During the elections in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 2009 the Democratic Front, which is the coalition of Congress (INC) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), contested the elections against the union of Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also against the third party called the Republican Left Democratic Front, popularly known as RIDALOS. The Democratic Front emerged victorious after bagging 82 seats by INC and 62 seats by NCP. Ashok Chavan became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. However, he was replaced by Prithviraj Chavan due to the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Election Commission of Maharashtra
The State Election Commission of Maharashtra had been established in the year 1994, according to the provisions of Article 243 K & 243 ZA of the Constitution of India. These provisions are responsible for conducting all the rural and urban local body's elections.
Major Political Parties and their strategies
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena both the parties are fighting elections in Maharashtra together. NDA alliance in the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly polls will be 164 seats for BJP and its partner Republican party of India. Shiv Sena will fight on 124 seats and the. Both parties are almost sure to repeat the 2014 feat. and form the government. October 24 is the date of counting. The most important thing is that Shiv Sena candidate Aditya Thackeray son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray is the first member of his family who has been fighting elections. He has filed his nomination papers from Worli.
Congress and NCP on one platform
The honeymoon of Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has been continuing in the forthcoming Maharashtra elections. Both the parties are ready to field 125 candidates each. The remaining seats have gone to the smaller parties. It seems Congress and NCP will have to crack the nut to overcome the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance. Sharad Pawar the old warhorse of the NCP, his name has been in the air for the Cooperative Bank scam case. Congress is lacking leadership quality. Rebel within the congress camp is the big issue for the parry.
Rebel Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam has predicted a poor Congress performance for the upcoming elections in Maharashtra. Sanjay Nirupam said barring 3-4 seats, Congress candidates would “lose their deposits”. He will not campaign for the party in the state.
Nirupam said he is not quitting the Congress immediately but added that he would have to take a decision if things don’t improve in the party. “I don’t think I would want to leave the party but if the things within the party continues to be like this, then I don’t think I can be in the party for long. I will not take part in election campaign,”. There was a time when Sanjay Nirupam was called the right hand of Rahul Gandhi.
At the outset it seems that BJP and Shiv Sena alliance are firm favorite to win the forthcoming elections in Maharashtra assembly. But like cricket politics is also a game of great uncertainty. Wait and watch till October 24, when everything will be unveiled.
| List of the Assembly Constituencies in Maharashtra |
Last Updated on: November 07, 2022
