jilievo online gaming Maharashtra Elections 2024: 9.7 Crore Voters To Head To The Polls To Elect New 288-Member Assembly | Details

Maharashtra will be heading to the polls on Wednesday – November 20. As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of Indiajilievo online gaming, around nine crore voters across Maharashtra will cast their vote in a single phase across all 288 assembly constituencies.

Of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, 234 come under the general category, 29 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 25 constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).

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Pakistan, on the other hand, are behind India in second place, with eight points to their name, and also beat hosts China 5-1 in their most recent fixture. 

For the assembly polls, a total of 4,140 candidates are in the fray, including incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Congress' Nana Patole, Shiv Sena UBT's Aaditya Thackeray and many more.

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The Maharashtra elections comes two years after the leading regional parties of the state split into factions. In the upcoming elections, the MVA alliance is hoping from a strong comeback as the ruling Mahayuti tries to hold onto power.

Polls across Maharashtra will open at 7 AM. For the 2024 elections, around nine crore eligible voters will be able to cast their vote at 1,00,186 polling stations across 52,789 locations in the state. Of the 9.7 crore voters, 4.97 crore are men, 4.66 crore women, and 20.93 lakh are first-time voters.

November 20 has been declared as a public holiday by the Maharashtra government to encourage voter turnout. Along with a public holiday, a dry day has also been declared across the state.

Along with the assembly elections, the bypoll for the Nanded Lok Sabha seat will also in held. For this parliamentary seat, the key battle remains between the BJP and the Congress. The Lok Sabha seat was vacated after the death of Congress candidate Vasant Chavan on August 26.

For the 288 assembly seats, two major alliances have been formed in Maharashtra. The first comprises of the incumbent Shinde Sena with BJP and Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party. This alliance is referred to as the Mahayuti alliance.

Contesting against the Mahayuti alliance is the Maha Vikas Aghadi - comprising of the Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.

Throughout the election campaigning, leaders such as PM Modi, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have been travelling across the state to gather support for their respective candidates and alliances.

Some of the key candidates in the Maharashtra elections are -

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from Kopri-Pachpakhadi

Nana Patole from Sakoli

Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West

Aaditya Thackeray from Worli

Milind Deora from Worli

Zeeshan Siddique from Bandra East

Nawab Malik from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar

Ajit Pawar from Baramati

Rohit Patil from Tasgaon

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One of the key constituencies heading to the polls on Wednesday is Worli. Aaditya Thackeray (Shiv Sena UBT), Milind Deora (Shinde Snea) and Sandeep Deshpande (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) are contesting for the high-profile assembly seat in Mumbai.

Over in Baramati, a Pawar vs Pawar challenge is set for November 20.Sharad Pawar's grandnephew, Yugendra Pawar will be challenging Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the seat. The competition is expected to be a tough one, especially considering the fact that Ajit Pawar has held the seat for seven consecutive years since 1991.

Other key constituencies to watch out for are Latur, Vandre East, Nagpur South West and Kopri-Pachpakhadi.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the NDA coalition - BJP and Shiv Sena won with a total of 161 seats. However, in 2022, the Shiv Sena found itself in a tricky position, ultimately leading to the collapse of the state government and a split between the Thackeray faction and Eknath Shinde faction.

In 2023jilievo online gaming, the Nationalist Congress Party also split after Ajit Pawar announced his exit from Sharad Pawar's party and joined the alliance with BJP and Shinde Sena.