The polls for the Assemblies of Maharashtra and Jharkhand will be conducted in a single phase on November 20 and in two phases on 13 and 20 November, respectively; the results of both will be declared on November 23, announced the Election Commission on Tuesday.
The Assemblies of Maharashtra and Jharkhand have 288 seats and 81 seats, respectively.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Tuesday that the notification for the polls would be issued on October 22 and nominations would open on the same day, with the last date on October 29. Scrutiny would be held on October 30 and the last date of withdrawal would be November 4.
In Jharkhand, the notification for the two phases would be issued on October 18 and October 22, and nominations would open that day only, and the last date for filing candidatures would be October 25 and 29. Scrutiny will be held on October 28 and 30 and the last date of withdrawal of nominations will be October 30 and November 1.
The CEC, flanked by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, said the model code of conduct comes into play the moment the poll schedule is announced. Observing that they had selected mid-week to address the issue of "urban apathy", the CEC stated in view of the ongoing preparations for the polls, a special meeting would be convened soon on this issue.
The poll panel said the total electorate of Maharashtra consists of 9.63 crore people, of whom 4.77 crore are men, while 4.66 crore are women. In Jharkhand, a total number of 2.6 crore voters comprises 1.31 crore men and 1.29 crore women.
As informed by the Election Commission, the polling stations would be set up at 25,789 locations in Maharashtra, counting to a total 1,00,186 polling stations, and at 20,281 locations in Jharkhand totalling 29,562 polling stations.
Maharashtra has the MahaYuti, which consists of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and the National Congress Party against Maha Vikas Aghadi made up of Shiv Sena-UBT, Congress, and the National Congress Party-Sharad Pawar.
The contest in Jharkhand is essentially between the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and its allies, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress, on one hand and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance-also comprising Janata Dal-United, Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas-and All Jharkhand Students Union, on the other.
