New Delhi: Voting is set to take place for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, 38 assembly seats in Jharkhand on Wednesday (November 20). Voting will also be held for byelections on 9 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, 4 in Punjab and 1 in Kerala. At the same time, votes will also be cast for the byelection on Nanded Lok Sabha seat.
Elections will be held in Maharashtra in a single phase while in Jharkhand in two phases. Voting for the first phase of Jharkhand was held on November 13. The electoral battle in Maharashtra is mainly between two alliances – Mahayuti and MVA. Meanwhile, the competition is between two alliances in Jharkhand – BJP-led NDA and INDIA allies.
PM Modi urges voters to participate in large numbers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media platform X and urged all the voters to participate in large numbers in both the states.
In a post on X, PM Modi said, “Today is the second and last phase of the great festival of democracy in Jharkhand. I urge all voters to participate in it enthusiastically and create a new record of voting. On this occasion, I specially congratulate all my young friends who are going to vote for the first time. Your every vote is the strength of the state.”
झारखंड में आज लोकतंत्र के महापर्व का दूसरा और आखिरी चरण है। सभी मतदाताओं से मेरा आग्रह है कि वे इसमें बढ़-चढ़कर भागीदारी करें और वोटिंग का नया रिकॉर्ड बनाएं। इस अवसर पर पहली बार वोट डालने जा रहे अपने सभी युवा साथियों का मैं विशेष अभिनंदन करता हूं। आपका एक-एक मत राज्य की ताकत है।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 20, 2024
In another post, he stated, “Today, votes will be cast for all the seats of Maharashtra Assembly elections. I urge the voters of the state to be a part of it with full enthusiasm and add to the splendour of the festival of democracy. On this occasion, I appeal to all the youth and women voters to vote in large numbers.”
आज महाराष्ट्र विधानसभा चुनाव की सभी सीटों के लिए वोट डाले जाएंगे। राज्य के मतदाताओं से मेरा आग्रह है कि वे पूरे उत्साह के साथ इसका हिस्सा बनें और लोकतंत्र के उत्सव की रौनक बढ़ाएं। इस अवसर पर सभी युवा और महिला मतदाताओं से अपील है कि वे बढ़ चढ़कर वोट डालें।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 20, 2024
These candidates in the fray in Maharashtra
Out of 288 seats in Maharashtra, 29 are reserved for SC, 25 for ST. A total of 4,140 candidates are contesting on these 288 seats.
The Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra includes BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction and Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction. BJP is contesting on 149 seats, Shiv Sena on 81 seats and NCP on 59 seats.
On the other hand, opposition alliance Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) comprises Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s (UBT) Shiv Sena faction and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction. Congress is contesting on 101 seats, Shiv Sena on 95 seats and NCP on 86 seats.
Many prominent leaders are in the fray in Maharashtra elections. BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is in the fray from Nagpur South West seat. Fadnavis is pitted against Praful Gudhe of Congress.
Meanwhile, in Baramati, there will be a tough fight between Pawar vs Pawar. On one hand Ajit Pawar is in the fray, on the other hand Sharad Pawar’s grandson Yugendra Pawar is challenging him. Yugendra Pawar is contesting elections for the first time.
On Vandre East seat, Zeeshan Siddiqui and Varun Sardesai are contesting face to face. Zeeshan Siddiqui has the support of youth and Muslims. Zeeshan Siddiqui is pitted against Uddhav Thackeray’s nephew Varun Sardesai. He has been with the Uddhav Thackeray Sena since the split in the Shiv Sena in 2022.
Worli City of Mumbai is also one of the high profile seats. Here, the main contest is between Milind Deora of Shinde Sena, Aditya Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande. Milind Deora is a former MP from South Mumbai.
The contest in Thane’s Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly seat will also be high-stakes. Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde is pitted against his guru Anand Dighe’s nephew Kedar Dighe.
High-profile seats in Jharkhand
The alliance in the state is led by Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The fate of many big leaders is at stake in the state.
In Jharkhand, out of the 38 seats where voting will take place in the final phase, eight are reserved for scheduled tribes and three for scheduled castes. In the second phase, a total of 1.23 crore voters including 60.79 lakh women and 147 third gender voters will exercise their franchise. A total of 528 candidates are in the fray in this phase, including 472 men, 55 women and one third gender.
The second phase of elections will decide the electoral fate of 528 candidates, including Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren and opposition leader and BJP candidate Amar Kumar Bauri. Out of the 38 seats in the second phase, there is a direct contest between BJP and JMM on 17 seats.
The 38 seats in Jharkhand where voting will take place include Bagmara Bagodar, Barhet, Bermo, Bokaro, Borio, Chandankyari, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Dhanwar, Dumka, Dumri, Gandey, Giridih, Godda, Gomia, Jama, Jamtara, Jamua, Jarmundi, Jharia, Khijri, Littipara, Madhupur, Mahagama, Maheshpur, Mandu, Nala, Nirsa, Pakur, Poreyahat, Rajmahal, Ramgarh, Sharat, Shikaripara, Silli, Sindri and Tundi seats.
Hemant Soren is contesting from Barhet seat while Marandi is contesting from Dhanwar seat. Sita Soren is contesting from Jamtara seat while Kalpana Soren is contesting from Gande seat.
Byelections in 5 states
Votes will also be cast today for byelections on 15 assembly seats of 5 states. Out of these 15 seats, 13 seats have become vacant after the MLAs became MPs, while one seat has become vacant due to death and one seat has become vacant after the leader went to jail. Out of these 15 seats, 9 are from Uttar Pradesh where votes will be cast. Talking about the 15 seats, 9 are from Uttar Pradesh, 1 from Uttarakhand, 4 from Punjab, 1 from Kerala.
Byelections will also be held on Nanded Lok Sabha seat of Maharashtra. This seat fell vacant after the death of Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan. Vasantrao Chavan died a few weeks after the completion of the Lok Sabha elections. After this, the Election Commission decided to hold a by-election on this seat.
Congress declared Vasantrao Chavan’s son Ravindra Chavan as its candidate for the by-election while the BJP has given ticket to Dr Santuk Hambarde. The results of the by-elections will also be released simultaneously on November 23 along with the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
