Assembly election dates: Maharashtra, Haryana to vote on October 21, results on October 24

Maharashtra, Haryana election dates: The Election Commission of India has announced Maharashtra, Haryana Assembly election dates.  Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will be held simultaneously on October 21. Counting of votes will take place on October 24.

The Model Code of Conduct has come into effect immediately after the announcement of poll dates in these two states, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said.  The Election Commission has also appointed two special poll observers for Maharashtra, he added. While Haryana has 1.82 crore registered voters, in Maharashtra 8.94 crore people are eligible to vote.

Maharashtra, Haryana Assembly elections schedule

Issue of notification: September 27, 2019

Last date of nomination: October 4, 2019

Scrutiny of nomination: October 5, 2019

Last date of withdrawal of candidate: October 7, 2019

Date of poll: October 21, 2019

Counting of votes: October 24, 2019

Date before which election shall be completed: October 27, 2019

While the tenure of the Haryana Legislative expires on November 2, the term of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly ends on November 9. The Jharkhand Legislative Assembly’s tenure is slated to end on December 27.

In Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is hoping to retain power, however, the two saffron parties are yet to finalise seat-sharing formula for the upcoming polls straining the ties. In the 2014 assembly polls, the BJP had won 122 seats, Shiv Sena 63, the Congress 42 and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party 41. Other smaller parties and independent candidates had bagged 20 of 288 seats in Maharashtra Assembly.

While differences over seat-sharing are yet to be resolved between the BJP-Shiv Sena, the NCP and Congress are facing a difficult time keeping their flocks together  as a number of  senior leaders have joined the saffron brigade in the past few days.  NCP strongmen Ganesh Naik, who was with the party since almost two decades and Udayanraje Bhosale have joined the BJP serving a blow to Sharad Pawar’s party ahead of the assembly polls.

Also Read: Maharashtra elections: Congress defections add fresh twist to BJP-Shiv Sena tussle over seat-sharing

From the Congress, Harshvardhan Patil, Kalidas Kolambkar and Jaykumar Gore have joined the BJP, while MLAs Nirmala Gavit, Bhausaheb Kambale and Abdul Sattar have opted for Shiv Sena.

Haryana also witnessed an overwhelming victory of the BJP in 2014 Assembly election. The party won a clear majority winning 47 seats in the 90-member Haryana Assembly. The party is going to polls under the leadership of CM Manohar Lal Khattar and is aiming to increase its tally from 47 to 75 this time.