The Election Commission (EC) has yet to announce the dates for the Maharashtra assembly elections, but Chief Minister Eknath Shinde hinted at an event on Tuesday evening that the polls are likely to be held in November. Shinde stated that elections "will be held in two months" and encouraged voters to elect Shiv Sena MLA Dilip Lande for the Chandivali assembly constituency.
Officials have indicated that the EC will announce the dates for the Maharashtra assembly elections only after the results of the Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana elections are declared on October 4. The EC is expected to schedule the Maharashtra polls in conjunction with the Jharkhand elections.
According to a report of TOI, Elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are likely to be held in November and completed before the current Maharashtra assembly's term expires on November 26. Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while announcing the poll schedule for J&K and Haryana last month, had said assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana which were held together over the last few cycles were delinked this time as the existing Haryana assembly's term was ending much earlier on Nov 3, 2024.
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As of the final electoral roll published on August 30, Maharashtra has 9.53 crore voters ahead of the upcoming assembly polls. This represents an increase of 16.9 lakh voters in just three weeks since the draft roll was issued on August 6. However, the state has only 18.6 lakh voters in the 18-19 age group, representing less than 2% of the total voter base.