For the assembly polls, a total of 4,140 candidates are in the fray, including incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Congress' Nana Patole, Shiv Sena UBT's Aaditya Thackeray and many more
Maharashtra will be heading to the polls on Wednesday – November 20. As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India, around nine crore voters across Maharashtra will cast their vote in a single phase across all 288 assembly constituencies.
Of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, 234 come under the general category, 29 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 25 constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
For the assembly polls, a total of 4,140 candidates are in the fray, including incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Congress' Nana Patole, Shiv Sena UBT's Aaditya Thackeray and many more.
The Maharashtra elections comes two years after the leading regional parties of the state split into factions. In the upcoming elections, the MVA alliance is hoping from a strong comeback as the ruling Mahayuti tries to hold onto power.
Polls across Maharashtra will open at 7 AM. For the 2024 elections, around nine crore eligible voters will be able to cast their vote at 1,00,186 polling stations across 52,789 locations in the state. Of the 9.7 crore voters, 4.97 crore are men, 4.66 crore women, and 20.93 lakh are first-time voters.
November 20 has been declared as a public holiday by the Maharashtra government to encourage voter turnout. Along with a public holiday, a dry day has also been declared across the state.
For the 288 assembly seats, two major alliances have been formed in Maharashtra. The first comprises of the incumbent Shinde Sena with BJP and Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party. This alliance is referred to as the Mahayuti alliance.
Contesting against the Mahayuti alliance is the Maha Vikas Aghadi - comprising of the Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Throughout the election campaigning, leaders such as PM Modi, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have been travelling across the state to gather support for their respective candidates and alliances.
Some of the key candidates in the Maharashtra elections are -
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from Kopri-Pachpakhadi
Nana Patole from Sakoli
Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West
Aaditya Thackeray from Worli
Milind Deora from Worli
Zeeshan Siddique from Bandra East
Nawab Malik from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar
Ajit Pawar from Baramati
Rohit Patil from Tasgaon
One of the key constituencies heading to the polls on Wednesday is Worli. Aaditya Thackeray (Shiv Sena UBT), Milind Deora (Shinde Snea) and Sandeep Deshpande (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) are contesting for the high-profile assembly seat in Mumbai.
Over in Baramati, a Pawar vs Pawar challenge is set for November 20. Sharad Pawar's grandnephew, Yugendra Pawar will be challenging Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the seat. The competition is expected to be a tough one, especially considering the fact that Ajit Pawar has held the seat for seven consecutive years since 1991.
Other key constituencies to watch out for are Latur, Vandre East, Nagpur South West and Kopri-Pachpakhadi.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the NDA coalition - BJP and Shiv Sena won with a total of 161 seats. However, in 2022, the Shiv Sena found itself in a tricky position, ultimately leading to the collapse of the state government and a split between the Thackeray faction and Eknath Shinde faction.
In 2023, the Nationalist Congress Party also split after Ajit Pawar announced his exit from Sharad Pawar's party and joined the alliance with BJP and Shinde Sena.