Maharashtra assembly elections: Single phase voting on November 20, results on November 23; check full schedule

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced the assembly election dates for the state of Maharashtra. Elections in Maharashtra will be held in single phase on November 20. The counting of votes will be on November 23.

Maharashtra is gearing up for elections as the two major political alliances—the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Mahayuti—prepare to face each other for the first time in a Vidhan Sabha election.

Check full schedule here:


The Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprise of the Congress, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) under Sharad Pawar, will go head-to-head with the Mahayuti , which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar. This will be the first electoral contest between these two alliances since the splits within the Shiv Sena and NCP.

The MVA is hopeful of replicating its recent Lok Sabha success, while the Mahayuti aims to retain power by leveraging its populist schemes targeted at women and youth. Both alliances have set their sights on winning the state.


In the last Vidhan Sabha elections in 2019, the BJP secured 26.1% of the votes, the Congress 16.1%, the NCP 16.9%, and the Shiv Sena 16.6%. The BJP and the Shiv Sena (then united) formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which won a majority. However, the coalition soon crumbled due to disagreements over government formation, plunging the state into a political crisis.

After no party could establish a government, Maharashtra was placed under President's rule. Devendra Fadnavis was briefly sworn in as chief minister, with Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister. However, both resigned just days later before a scheduled floor test.

By November 28, 2019, a new coalition emerged, with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress forming the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, led by Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister.

The state's politics took another turn in June, 2022, when Uddhav Thackeray resigned following a rebellion within the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, who then allied with the BJP. Eknath Shinde assumed the role of chief minister, with Devendra Fadnavis returning as deputy chief minister.