Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Sep 22: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced biennial elections to five seats in the 78-member Maharashtra Legislative Council, with polling scheduled for October 23.

Counting of votes will take place on October 27, while the entire election process will be completed by October 31, according to the schedule announced by the poll panel.

The elections are being held to fill the seats that will fall vacant following the retirement of sitting members on December 6, 2026.

The five seats comprise three Graduates' constituencies — Aurangabad Division, Pune Division and Nagpur Division — and two Teachers' constituencies — Amravati Division and Pune Division.

The retiring members are Chavan Satish Bhanudasrao from the Aurangabad Graduates' constituency, Arun Ganpati Lad from the Pune Graduates' constituency, Abhijit Govindrao Wanjari from the Nagpur Graduates' constituency, Sarnaik Kiran Ramrao from the Amravati Teachers' constituency and Jayant Dinkar Aasgavkar from the Pune Teachers' constituency.

According to the election schedule, the notification will be issued on September 29. The last date for filing nominations is October 6, while scrutiny of nominations will be conducted on October 7.

Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9.

The Maharashtra polls are part of a wider round of biennial elections to Legislative Councils in four states, with elections also scheduled in Bihar, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Polling for the Legislative Council seats across the states is scheduled for October 23.