Maharashtra Assembly Elections: Parties urge EC to schedule elections due to upcoming festivals

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Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Jumar on Saturday said that the political parties have requested the Election Commission to schedule the Maharashtra Assembly Elections taking into consideration the upcoming festivals like Diwali and Chhath Puja, ANI reported.

According to ANI, Kumar while addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday said that they have met a total of 11 party leaders, which includes Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP).

"We have come here for the preparation of the upcoming Assembly elections that are going to take place in Maharashtra. We met with the leaders of national parties and regional parties. We met the stakeholders, DM, Commissioner of Police, DGP...We met the leaders of a total of 11 parties, including BSP, AAP, CPI (M), INC, MNS, SP, NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena...They have asked us to consider festivals like Diwali, Dev Diwali, and Chhath Puja before announcing the dates of the elections," he said.

The CEC further claimed that the total electors in the states are 9.59 crores, with 4.59 crore of them being males and 4.64 crores being females.

"In Maharashtra, there are 288 constituencies, of which ST constituencies are 25 and ST constituencies are 29. The term of the Maharashtra legislative assembly is ending on November 26 so elections have to be completed before that. The total electors in the states are 9.59 crores with males being 4.59 crores and females being 4.64 crores. First-time voters from 18-19 years are quite encouraging, around 19.48 lakhs," he said.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections will be held in 288 constituencies. The Election Commission of India has yet to announce the dates for the polls, ANI reported.

The upcoming elections will see a competition between the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, which consists of UBT Shiv Sena, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and Congress and the Maha Yuti Alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction)

Earlier, at the review meeting of poll preparedness for the Maharashtra Assembly election, sources told ANI, the ECI asked the Superintendent of Police of districts in Maharashtra about the status of FIRs connected to electoral offenses during the Lok Sabha elections of 2024.

According to ANI, Rajiv Kumar directed SPs to review all the cases that were related to personnel, EVM and social media. The CEC sternly stated that fake news on social media should be addressed quickly and with action.

According to ANI sources, State Police Nodal Officers were instructed to resolve all LS 2024 cases as quickly as possible and without any leniency.

CEC Rajiv Kumar gave orders to all Superintendents of Police and District Election Officers during the review meeting, directing them to make sure that polling places have the minimum facilities and proper management of voter queues at polling stations. The CEC instructed DEOs to make in-person visits to polling places in order to oversee all setups, put up benches for voters in queues, supply drinking water, and take care of parking in congested areas. Additionally, ANI sources claimed that appropriate signage and instructions for directing voters should be provided at each of the multiple polling places located in one area.

ECI team led by CEC Rajiv Kumar is on a two-day visit to Mumbai in order to review the poll preparedness of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections. During the review meeting on Friday with Maharashtra's top officials, CEC questioned why over 100 police inspectors were holding key positions in Mumbai, ANI reported.

(With inputs from ANI)