It has been less than six months since the state assembly elections, and now another election is set to take place in Maharashtra. The Election Commission has announced a by-election for five vacant seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council. Voting for these seats, which will be elected by members of the State Assembly, will take place on March 27, with the results to be declared on the same evening.
The vacancies arose after five members of the Legislative Council resigned following their election to the Legislative Assembly. In the November 2024 Assembly elections, Amshya Padvi, Praveen Datke, Rajesh Vitekar, Ramesh Karad, and Gopichand Padalkar won Assembly seats and resigned from their positions in the Legislative Council. This led to the creation of five vacant seats in the Council.
The schedule for this by-election is as follows: The notification will be issued on March 10, with the last date for filing nomination papers set for March 17. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on March 18, and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures will be March 20. Voting will take place on March 27 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with the vote counting and results to be announced at 5:00 PM.
Following their sweeping victory in the recent Assembly elections, the Mahayuti (grand alliance) is riding high on confidence. However, the upcoming by-election presents a challenge for the alliance to maintain its dominance by securing victory in these key Legislative Council seats.