Overview
- The Election Commission, which on Thursday set May 12 for polling, will issue the notification on April 23 with nominations due April 30, scrutiny on May 2, withdrawals by May 4, voting from 9 am to 4 pm, and counting at 5 pm the same day.
- Nine seats are up as terms end on May 13 for members including Uddhav Thackeray, and these seats will be decided by the 288 MLAs using preference ballots with a 29-vote quota to win.
- A separate by-election triggered by Pradnya Satav’s resignation will be held the same day, with MLAs casting a second vote that requires 144 votes to win and could rise to 145 if Baramati and Rahuri bypoll winners can participate.
- Based on current assembly numbers, reports expect the BJP-led Mahayuti to secure about eight of the nine biennial seats, which would leave the Maha Vikas Aghadi with one.
- Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said the party wants the opposition slot if Thackeray skips renomination and urged that Satav’s vacated seat return to Congress without a contest, citing the recent Baramati bypoll precedent.