Live updates for the 2024 Maharashtra election: All 288 seats in the Maharashtra legislative assembly are up for vote today, November 20.
Voting will run until 6 p.m., having started at 7 a.m.
As voting for 288 Maharashtra seats began, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people of the state to cast their ballots in big numbers. Voting for all Maharashtra Assembly seats will take place today. I implore the state’s voters to participate enthusiastically and contribute to the beauty of the democratic celebration. “I urge all young people and female voters to cast their ballots in significant numbers this time,” Modi wrote in a post on X.
The contest in Maharashtra is largely bipolar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in alliance with Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena under the ruling Mahayuti banner, is contesting against the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP (Sharad Pawar) and the Congress party.
Of the 288 assembly seats, 234 come under general category, 29 are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 25 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Voting will be held across 1,00,186 polling stations in 52,789 locations. This includes 42,604 urban polling booths and 57,582 rural polling booths. Of these 299 polling booths are managed by Persons with Disabilities (PwD).
There are roughly 9.7 crore (97 million) eligible voters in Maharashtra, according to the most recent voter list. There are 4.66 crore female voters and 4.97 crore male voters in this group. 20.93 lakh of the 1.85 crore young voters (18–29) are first-time voters (18–19).
The 2019 Assembly Elections
61.4% of voters cast ballots in Maharashtra’s 2019 assembly elections. The Shiv Sena (SHS) and the BJP’s ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a majority. A political crisis resulted from the dissolution of the partnership due to disagreements over the structure of the administration.
The state has had three chief ministers in the past five years. These are Devendra Fadavis of the BJP, Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT), and Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena (SHS).
There were also splits among the two main regional parties, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena, which resulted in partnerships in the opposition and in power.
High Political Stakes
In Maharashtra, the political stakes have never been higher. The struggle is more than just a struggle for power as influential figures fight for dominance in one of India’s wealthiest states. For some, it is a struggle for political survival, but for many, it is a test of leadership legacies.
Several well-known national leaders traveled throughout the state to gather support for the Mahayuti and MVA candidates during the loud campaign, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Union ministers.
The BJP suffered a setback in Maharashtra during the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. Compared to 23 of the 25 seats it ran for in the 2019 general elections, it only won nine of the 28 seats it ran for in 2024.
Following the victory in Haryana, the BJP’s momentum will be put to the test by the outcomes in Maharashtra. Given that key members of the opposition alliance are running in this election, it will also be another test for the INDIA bloc.
With the support of regional parties, in this case the Shiv Sena and NCP sections, the election puts the BJP’s capacity to hold onto power to the test. Gaining a victory in Maharashtra would undoubtedly increase the BJP’s influence outside of its conventional northern strongholds.
