Rama Krishna Sangem
Elections are announced for Maharashtra and Jharkhand assemblies. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on October 15, Tuesday announced that the Maharashtra Assembly elections will take place on November 20, while the Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases—November 13 and 20. Results for both states will be declared on November 23.
With the term of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly ending on November 26 and that of Jharkhand concluding on January 5, 2025, both states are preparing for crucial elections. The 2019 Jharkhand Assembly polls were held across five phases, while Maharashtra conducted voting in just one phase.
Maharashtra is gearing up for an intense electoral contest between two major alliances: the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’s Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Sharad Pawar, and the Congress; and the MahaYuti Alliance, consisting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar.
BJP’s challenge
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 104 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra, forming the government with the undivided Shiv Sena. However, the political landscape dramatically shifted following the alliance’s split. The recent performance of the BJP in the 2024 parliamentary elections has raised concerns within the party. The BJP-led MahaYuti Alliance secured just 17 of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, a significant drop from 23 seats in 2019. The MVA, on the other hand, managed to claim 30 seats in the state.
Amid mounting pressure, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resigned after the BJP’s underwhelming performance at the Centre. However, Fadnavis reversed his decision following a resolution passed by state BJP legislators expressing their confidence in his leadership. He remains at the helm, tasked with guiding the party into the upcoming Assembly elections.
In Jharkhand Soren faces turbulence
In Jharkhand, the political landscape centres around the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress alliance, led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. However, Soren’s political career has been marred by accusations of money laundering, leading to his arrest earlier this year. Champai Soren briefly took over as the state’s leader following Hemant Soren’s arrest but later stepped down in July.
Champai Soren’s resignation from the JMM in August and his subsequent decision to join the BJP—citing “disrespect” and “humiliation”—has added fuel to the political fire, potentially shaking the dynamics ahead of the polls. Jharkhand is important to both the BJP and India bloc.
