Polls to 9 seats of Maharashtra legislative council, bypoll to one seat to be held on May 12

BIennial elections to ix seats of the Maharashtra legislative council, including the ace to be vacated by former chief government minister Uddhav william makepeace thackeray, testament be held on May 12 along with a bypoll to one seat, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Thursday.As per the poll schedule, voting for all 10 seats will be held between 9 am and 4 pm on May 12. The counting of votes will take place on the same day at 5 pm and the entire process will be completed by May 13.The tenure of nine members of the legislative council (MLCs) is due to end on May 13, which has necessitated the elections.Apart from Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, eight other retiring members are legislative council chairperson Neelam Diwakar Gorhe (Shiv Sena), Sanjay Kishanrao Kenekar (BJP), Sandeep Diwakar Joshi (BJP), Dadarao Yadavrao Keche (BJP), Ranjitsinh Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil (BJP), Amol Ramkrushna Mitkari (NCP), Rajesh Dhondiram Rathod (Congress) and Shashikant Jaywantrao Shinde (NCP-SP).The nine seats will go to polls as part of the regular biennial election, while a separate by-election will be conducted for the vacancy caused by Congress member Pradnya Satav's resignation. The term of Satav, who joined the BJP, was originally due to end on July 27, 2030.The ECI said separate voting processes will be followed for the nine seats and the bypoll seat, requiring MLAs to cast their votes twice on the same day.The quota for winning a seat in the biennial election has been fixed at 29 votes, while the by-election will require 144 votes.If newly-elected members from Baramati and Rahuri assembly constituencies (whose bypolls are scheduled to be held on April 23) become eligible to vote, the quota may rise to 145 for the bypoll seat.Principal secretary (legislative assembly and legislative council) Jitendra Bhole has been appointed as the returning officer for the nine seats, while Vilas Athawale will oversee the by-election process.Given the current strength in the assembly, the ruling Mahayuti alliance is expected to comfortably win a majority of the seats. The BJP-led combine is likely to secure up to nine of the 10 seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is likely to win only one seat.The bypoll seat, with a higher vote quota, is also likely to go to the BJP, with Satav likely to be fielded again.The poll schedule states that the notification will be issued on April 23, the last date for filing nominations is April 30, scrutiny will take place on May 2, and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is May 4.Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal said there had been prior discussions during the Rajya Sabha elections that his party would support Uddhav Thackeray if he opted for a legislative council berth, but any other proposal would require further deliberation of the MVA constituents.He said his party expects to contest the seat if Thackeray does not seek his renomination.The Congress leader made the demand citing NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar's nomination to the Rajya Sabha as an Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate recently despite Congress' wish to contest that election.On the bypoll, Sapkal also claimed that the vacant seat earlier belonged to the Congress and should be returned to the party as per the political understanding.