Mumbai, Agency
Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will face a crucial electoral contest on Friday, with 182 candidates competing for five seats in the 78-member Legislative Council. The biennial elections cover three Graduates' constituencies and two Teachers' constituencies.
Polling will take place between 8 am and 4 pm, with counting scheduled for October 27. The election process will conclude by October 31. Registered graduates and teachers residing in the respective divisions are eligible to vote.
The constituencies are Pune Graduates, Nagpur Graduates, Aurangabad Graduates, Pune Teachers and Amravati Teachers. The outgoing members, whose terms expire on December 6, are Satish Chavan, Arun Lad, Abhijit Vanjari, Jayant Asgaonkar and Kiran Sarnaik, respectively.
The Mahayuti comprises the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawar-led NCP. The MVA consists of Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
Within Mahayuti, the BJP is contesting Nagpur Graduates, Pune Graduates and Pune Teachers, while the NCP has fielded its candidate in Aurangabad Graduates and Shiv Sena in Amravati Teachers.
The Congress is contesting Nagpur Graduates and Pune Teachers for the MVA. NCP (SP) is fighting Pune and Aurangabad Graduates, while Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting Amravati Teachers.
Election officials reported 10,68,072 eligible voters across 2,419 polling stations. Pune Graduates has the largest electorate at 3,88,019, while Amravati Teachers has the smallest at 35,810.
Pune Graduates has 47 candidates, followed by Aurangabad Graduates with 41, Nagpur Graduates with 38, Pune Teachers with 30 and Amravati Teachers with 26.
Aurangabad Graduates has the most polling stations at 842, followed by Pune Graduates with 741, Nagpur Graduates with 445, Pune Teachers with 310 and Amravati Teachers with 81. Election authorities said preparations were complete to ensure fair, transparent and intimidation-free polling.
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