The Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday that assembly elections in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 13, while Jharkhand will vote in two phases on November 13 and 20. The counting of votes for both states will be done on November 23.
The poll panel also revealed dates for several Lok Sabha bypolls, including the Wayanad seat in Kerala, which Rahul Gandhi has vacated after securing the family stronghold of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 Jharkhand elections, Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, won 47 of the state’s 82 seats. Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the then-undivided Shiv Sena dominated, clinching 161 of the 288 seats. However, the alliance fractured over power-sharing issues, leading the Sena to partner with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to form a government.
This coalition was short-lived, collapsing in early 2023 due to rebellions by Eknath Shinde, who is now the Chief Minister, and Ajit Pawar, who serves as his deputy. This upheaval forced then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to resign, leading to the fall of his coalition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Looking ahead, the BJP aims to maintain momentum following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the Lok Sabha general elections, which secured him a third term. Eknath Shinde is expected to leverage his flagship initiative, the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which provides a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500 to impoverished women, to garner voter support, especially after a disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections where the ruling alliance, dubbed Mahayuti, secured only 17 of the 48 parliamentary seats.
The Rs 46,000 crore annual welfare scheme has been hailed as a potential "game-changer," similar to the Ladli Behna Yojana implemented by former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, which helped the BJP retain power in the state despite expectations of a Congress resurgence.
For the Congress, the upcoming elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are crucial, especially following a disappointing outcome in Haryana, where the party was expected to perform well, and the decline of support in Jammu and Kashmir, where the National Conference has garnered backing from four independents.
In Jharkhand, the election narrative is likely to focus on the money laundering allegations surrounding Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 but secured bail in June after the Supreme Court determined that he was not, prima facie, guilty. Soren has consistently denied the charges, claiming that the BJP is attempting to undermine the opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Following his dramatic resignation before arrest, he installed aide Champai Soren in his place, but after regaining his position, Champai Soren quit to join the BJP.