Voting for four seats in the Legislative Council—Mumbai Graduates, Mumbai Teachers, Nashik Teachers, and Konkan Graduates is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26. This election holds significance as it will gauge the preferences of educated voters in the state. Polling will be open from 7 am to 6 pm. The results of the election will be announced following the vote count on July 1.
The vote counting for the elections will be conducted on July 1, 2024, at the Agri Koli Cultural Building in Nerul. The Mahayuti plans intra-party competition for Mumbai and Nashik teachers' seats, while uniting in Mumbai and Konkan graduate seats. The Maha Vikas Aghadi counters with sequential nominations. Analysts predict a tight race.
The BJP has posed a challenge to the Uddhav Sena's long-standing dominance of the Mumbai graduate seat, which it has held for the past three decades. The contest features eight candidates, with Anil Parab from the Thackeray group and Kiran Shelar from the BJP emerging as the primary contenders. The election has been marked by controversy, particularly surrounding Anil Parab's claim that 12,000 graduate names were omitted from the constituency list. A total of 120,673 voters in Mumbai will determine the outcome between Anil Parab and Kiran Shelar.
Mumbai Divisional Teachers' Constituency:The main candidates are Shivajirao Nalawade of the NCP's Ajit Pawar faction, Shivnath Darade of the BJP, Shivaji Shendge of the Shiv Sena's Shinde faction, and Subhash More of the Samajwadi Republic Party. There are 13 candidates in total, and the constituency has 15,839 voters.
Mumbai Graduates:Anil Parab (Uddhav Sena) vs Kiran Shelar (BJP)
Mumbai Teacher:Jagannath Abhyankar (Uddhav Sena) vs Shivaji Nalawade (NCP, Ajit Pawar faction)
Konkan Division Graduates:Ramesh Keer (INC) vs Niranjan Davkhare (BJP)
In the state assembly, the BJP holds 103 seats, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) has 38, and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) has 39 seats. If only seven candidates are fielded, both sides could win unopposed. However, if the Mahayuti alliance risks cross-voting and fields nine or ten candidates, a contest will ensue. Sharad Pawar’s NCP, with 14 seats, Congress with 36, and Shiv Sena (UBT faction) with 15 members, collectively have enough votes to secure three seats in this election.