Voting will be held in 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra and 38 assembly seats in Jharkhand in the second phase today i.e. Wednesday. In Maharashtra it is done in one phase, while in Jharkhand it is done in two phases. Voting for the first phase in Jharkhand was held on November 13. The electoral fight in Maharashtra is mainly fought between two alliances. On the one hand there is the Mahayuti alliance that is in power. On the other hand, there is Mahavikas Aghadi, who plays the role of opposition. At the same time, in Jharkhand there is the BJP-led NDA on one side and the alliance with India on the other. Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leads the alliance in the state. The fate of many veterans is at stake in both states.
Talking about the grand alliance in Maharashtra, it has the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the NCP of the Ajit Pawar faction. The BJP is contesting on 149 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena is contesting on 81 seats and the Ajit faction’s NCP is contesting on 59 seats. At the same time, in the opposition Mahavikas Aghadi alliance, Congress is contesting on 101 seats, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena is contesting on 95 seats and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction is contesting on 86 seats. Of the 288 seats in Maharashtra, 29 are reserved for SC and 25 for ST. A total of 4,140 candidates are in the fray for these 288 seats.
Keep an eye out for famous faces from the Maharashtra elections
Many famous faces are also contesting the Maharashtra elections. In this, BJP leader and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is in the fray from the Nagpur South West seat. Fadnavis is contesting against Congress Party’s Prafulla Guddhe. Fadnavis is looking to secure his stronghold for the fourth time in a row.
At the same time, there is a fight between Pawar vs Pawar in Baramati. Here, on one hand, Ajit Pawar is in the fight, while on the other hand, Sharad Pawar’s grandson Yugendra Pawar is challenging him. Yugendra Pawar is in the electoral field for the first time and Sharad Pawar has an advantage over him.
Zeeshan Siddiqui takes on Varun Sardesai
The race for the Vandre East seat is even more interesting. Here Zeeshan Siddiqui and Varun Sardesai come face to face. Zeeshan Siddiqui has the support of youth and Muslims. His competition is Uddhav Thackeray’s nephew Varun Sardesai. He has been with Uddhav Thackeray Sena since the Shiv Sena split in 2022. He has significant reach in the traditional Shiv Sena votes in Vandre East.
Aditya Thackeray vs Sandeep Deshpande in Worli
Mumbai’s Worli city is also one of the high-profile venues. Here is a contest between Shinde Sena’s Milind Deora, Shiv Sena-UBT’s Aditya Thackeray and MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande. Milind Deora is a former MP from South Mumbai. Aditya Thackeray contested elections for the first time in 2019. In these elections he won a huge victory by 89,248 votes.
Shinde’s reputation at stake in Kopri-Pachpakhadi
The contest at Thane’s Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly headquarters is also quite high-fidelity. CM Eknath Shinde’s reputation is at stake here. Heading Shinde is Kedar Dighe, nephew of his guru Anand Dighe. Shinde often describes Anand Dighe as his political guru. He also financed a film based on Dighe’s life.
Candidates increased by 28 percent compared to 2019
Compared to the 2019 State Assembly elections, this time the number of candidates increased by 28 per cent. This year, 4,136 candidates are running for election, while in 2019 this figure was 3,239. Among these candidates, 2,086 are independent. Rebel candidates are running in more than 150 electoral districts. These rebel candidates are competing against the official Mahayuti and MVA candidates.
Some important figures related to the Maharashtra Assembly elections
Total voters: 9.70 crore
Male – 5 crore Female – 4.69 crore Third gender – 6101 18-19 (first time voter) – 22.2 lakh Disabled – 6.41 lakh 100+ voters – 47392
Total candidates- 4136
Men-3771 Women- 363 Others-2
Total polling stations-100186
Rural – 57582 Urban – 42604 Model stands – 633 Stands attended by women – 406 Stands attended by disabled people – 274 Webcasting – 67557
528 candidates are in the fray for 38 seats in Jharkhand.
Now, if we talk about Jharkhand, of the 38 seats where voting will be held in the last phase, eight are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and three for the Scheduled Castes. A total of 1.23 million voters, including 60.79 lakh women and 147 third gender voters, will exercise their franchise in the second phase. A total of 528 candidates are in the running in this phase, of which 472 are men, 55 are women and one belongs to the third gender.
Of the 38 seats for which elections will be held in Jharkhand, 18 are in the Santhal Pargana region, which includes six districts. During the election campaign, the NDA alleged that large-scale infiltration had taken place in Santhal Parganas during the five-year rule of the JMM-led government.
The second phase of elections will decide the electoral fate of 528 candidates, including Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate and chief minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren and opposition leader and BJP candidate Amar Kumar Bauri. There is a direct contest between BJP and JMM for 17 of the 38 seats in the second phase.
The vote will be carried out on these 38 seats.
The 38 seats in Jharkhand where polling will be held include Baghmara, 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, Shikaripada, Silli, Sindri and Tundi seats are included.
The fate of many veterans is at stake
The political fate of many senior leaders is at stake in the second phase of elections in Jharkhand. This includes leaders like Chief Minister Hemant Soren, former minister Babulal Marandi, Sita Soren, Kalpana Soren and Sudesh Mahato. Hemant Soren is contesting from the Barhet seat, while Marandi is contesting from the Dhanwar seat. Sita Soren is contesting from Jamtara seat and Kalpana Soren is contesting from Gande seat.
By-elections for 15 seats in 5 states
In addition, the partial elections to be held on 15 seats in five federal states will also be voted on today. Of these 15 seats, 13 seats fell vacant after MLAs became MPs, while one seat fell vacant after the death of a leader and one seat fell vacant after a leader went to jail. Of these 15 seats, 9 are from Uttar Pradesh, where votes will be cast. Talking about 15 seats, they include 9 from Uttar Pradesh, 1 from Uttarakhand, 4 from Punjab and 1 from Kerala.
By-election for a Lok Sabha seat
By-elections are also being held in the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra. This seat fell vacant after the death of Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan. Vasantrao Chavan died just a few weeks after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission subsequently decided to hold a by-election in this seat. The Congress Party has declared Ravindra Chavan, son of Vasantrao Chavan, as its candidate for the by-election, while the BJP has given its candidature to Dr Santuk Humbarde. The results of the by-elections along with the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand will also be published on November 23.
