Vikrant Shekhawat : Oct 15, 2024, 11:23 AM
Assembly Election 2024: Today at 3.30 pm, the Election Commission will formally announce the schedule of Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. The preparations of the commission have been completed and a press conference has been organized in this regard. The term of the 288-seat Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is ending on November 26, so the election process should be completed before that. At the same time, the term of the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly will end on January 5, 2025, which also gives an estimate that the elections can be held by the end of December 2024.By-elections can also be announcedThe Election Commission can also announce the dates for the by-elections to be held on some other seats today. The most prominent seat among these is the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated by the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi contested from both Wayanad and Amethi, but left the Wayanad seat. Now the Congress has announced Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its candidate from Wayanad, due to which this seat is in the news.Elections may be held after Chhath PujaIt is likely that Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections will be held after Chhath Puja. Jharkhand leaders had requested the commission to hold elections after Diwali, Chhath Puja and State Foundation Day. Chhath Puja is on November 8, so it is possible that elections will be held after this. There is also a possibility of elections being held in two or more phases in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.Major alliances and competitionThe major contest in Maharashtra will be between the ruling Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Mahayuti includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), while the Maha Vikas Aghadi consists of Congress, Sharad Pawar's NCP (NCP-SP) and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT).At the same time, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Jharkhand is part of the India Alliance and will face the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The NDA includes BJP, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and Janata Dal (United).Last time's election scenarioIn 2019, Maharashtra assembly elections were held in a single phase, with voting on October 21 and results on October 24. Elections in Jharkhand were held in five phases, with voting taking place from November 30 to December 20 and results were declared on December 23.This time too, elections are likely to be held in both states in multiple phases. After the announcement of the Election Commission, the activity of political parties will increase and election campaigning will start rapidly.