Maharashtra Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Schedule and Date: The general elections in the Indian state of Maharashtra, which has the second-highest number of Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) seats, will take place in five phases, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced in March.
The polls are scheduled to be held between April 19 and May 20. The results, like the rest of the country, will be announced on June 4.
Out of the 543 seats for which the election will be conducted this year, Maharashtra has 48, the second-highest after Uttar Pradesh which has 80.
When is the Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election 2024?
In Maharashtra, the elections will be held in five phases: April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.
Phase 1 (April 19)
Ramtek (SC)
Nagpur
Bhandara-Gondiya
Gadchiroli-Chimur (ST)
Chandrapur
Phase 2 (April 26)
Buldhana
Akola
Amravati
Wardha
Yavatmal-Washim
Hingoli
Nanded
Parbhani
Phase 3 (May 7)
Raigad
Baramati
Osmanabad
Latur (SC)
Solapur (SC)
Madha
Sangli
Satara
Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg
Kolhapur
Hatkanangle
Phase 4 (May 13)
Nandurbar (ST)
Jalgaon
Raver
Jalna
Aurangabad
Maval
Pune
Shirur
Ahmednagar
Shirdi (SC)
Beed
Phase 5 (May 20)
Dhule
Dindori (ST)
Nashik
Palghar (ST)
Bhiwandi
Kalyan
Thane
Mumbai North
Mumbai North-West
Mumbai North-East
Mumbai North-Central
Mumbai North-Central
Mumbai South-Central
Mumbai South
Maharashtra Politics
The Indian state has seen a major shift in alliances and parties, particularly since 2014 when the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA alliance came into power following the general elections.
Prior to that, a coalition government with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) ruled the state for decades.
In 2014, the state also held Legislative Assembly elections where Shiv Sena and the BJP had formed a coalition and the ruling party won the most seats.
In 2022, Maharashtra witnessed a high-stakes political crisis when Shiv Sena – founded by the late Balasaheb Thackeray – member Eknath Shinde cross-voted for the BJP and later broke up the party.
Eventually, Shinde joined the ruling party and formed a BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government in Maharashtra. He also managed Shiv Sena name and party symbol. In January, his faction was recognised by the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar as the “real Shiv Sena”.
Uddhav Thackeray, former CM who led the party when Shinde was also a member, changed his faction’s name to Shiv Sena (UBT) and its symbol to a flaming torch.
In 2023, Ajit Pawar, once a member of the NCP – founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar – left the party with several MLAs and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Shinde. In February 2024, the ECI awarded the original name and the symbol to the faction led by Ajit.
Therefore, the faction led by Sharad was named NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) or NCP (SCP) and the party was allowed by the Supreme Court to use the ‘man blowing turha’ as a symbol for the upcoming Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.
In this upcoming election, the race will be between two main alliances in the state:
Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA): Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SCP)
Mahayuti alliance: BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election 2024: List of Candidates and Constituencies
*Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district has two parliamentary Constituencies – Aurangabad and Jalna.
This story will be updated as and when parties announce their candidates.
(With inputs from agencies)
