15 october 2024 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the schedule for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections at 3:30 PM on Tuesday. This announcement coincides with by-elections for three Lok Sabha seats, including Wayanad in Kerala, and at least 47 assembly seats across various states.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vacated the Wayanad seat but retained his position in Rae Bareli, having won both during the summer Lok Sabha elections. The other two vacant Lok Sabha seats are Nanded (Maharashtra) and Basirhat (West Bengal). The by-elections are expected to be conducted alongside the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, as the tenures of their assemblies conclude on November 26 and January 5, respectively.
These polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand will be the second significant electoral event since the Lok Sabha elections, which saw the BJP unexpectedly returning to power in Haryana for a third consecutive term. The BJP secured its highest vote share, winning 48 out of 90 seats, defying exit poll predictions favoring Congress. In contrast, Congress did not sustain its momentum from the national elections, where it won five out of ten seats in Haryana.
In Maharashtra, Congress emerged as the largest party in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 13 of 48 seats, while the BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) each claimed nine seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) eight, and other parties won a mix of seats.
The opposition alliance, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), secured 30 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and performed strongly overall, winning 233 constituencies, which limited the BJP to 240 seats nationally—below the majority threshold of 272.
In the previous assembly elections in Maharashtra, held on October 21, 2019, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance gained a majority. However, the alliance later dissolved due to disputes over the chief ministerial position, leading to President’s rule and the brief swearing-in of a BJP government under Devendra Fadnavis. This government resigned shortly after.
On November 28, 2019, a coalition government was formed by the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress, known as the Maha Vikas Aghadi, with Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister. Thackeray resigned on June 29, 2022, after a faction of lawmakers led by Eknath Shinde broke away to ally with the BJP. Shinde then became chief minister, with Fadnavis as his deputy.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court indicated it might have reinstated Thackeray had he not resigned, ruling that the governor improperly determined Thackeray had lost majority support following the Shinde rebellion.
In Jharkhand, the last assembly elections for the 81-member assembly were conducted from November 30 to December 20, 2019, with results announced on December 23. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance won 47 seats, while the BJP secured 25. This summer, the BJP emerged as the largest party in the Lok Sabha, winning eight out of 14 seats, with JMM winning three and Congress winning two. The AJSU Party took the remaining Lok Sabha seat.