Maharashtra Council Elections: Five Seats Contested by 182 Candidates

The Maharashtra Legislative Council elections are scheduled for October 20, where 182 candidates will compete for five available seats. This political contest involves the ruling Mahayuti coalition, which includes the BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and the NCP led by Sunetra Pawar, facing off against the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance comprising Congress, Sharad Pawar's NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena.

These biennial elections will fill three Graduates’ constituencies—Pune Division Graduates, Nagpur Division Graduates, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates—as well as two Teachers’ constituencies—Pune Division Teachers and Amravati Teachers. Registered graduates and teachers residing in these divisions are eligible to vote, with polling taking place from 8 am to 4 pm.

The five outgoing members whose terms conclude on December 6 include Satish Chavan, Arun Lad, Abhijit Vanjari, Kiran Sarnaik, and Jayant Asgaonkar. In this election, the BJP has nominated candidates for the Nagpur and Pune Graduates’ seats and the Pune Teachers’ seat, while the NCP is contesting the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ seat and the Shiv Sena is focused on the Amravati Teachers’ constituency.

In the MVA camp, Congress is contesting the Nagpur Graduates’ and Pune Teachers’ seats, while the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) has candidates in the Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituencies. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is also in the running for the Amravati Teachers’ seat. A total of 10,68,072 voters are eligible to participate across 2,419 polling stations, with the Pune Graduates’ constituency having the largest voter base of 3,88,019.

The election authorities have assured that the election process will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner. Vote counting is set for October 27, with the entire election process concluding by October 31, as confirmed by an official statement.