EC to announce Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections schedule at 3.30 pm today

Among them is the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi who won from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad in June. The Congress has declared that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be the party’s nominee for the Wayanad seat.

In Maharashtra, the ruling coalition Mahayuti — the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party — will be up against the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the alliance of the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (NCP-SP) and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

In Jharkhand, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which is a part of the INDIA bloc, will be going up against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and Janata Dal (United) apart from the BJP in the state.

In the run-up to the poll announcement, the Maharashtra Cabinet last week recommended increasing the annual income limit for the OBC non-creamy layer from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. On Monday, the government announced a toll tax exemption for light motor vehicles entering Mumbai.

The announcement of the Maharashtra Assembly elections was expected along with the declaration of the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections in August. However, the Election Commission decided to de-couple the poll schedules. The Haryana and Maharashtra elections were held together for at least last three election cycles.

Explaining the decision, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had said since the J-K elections had to be held before September 30, as directed by the Supreme Court, the requirement of forces in the Union Territory was higher and only two polls could be held at a time.