Maharashtra will vote in a single phase on November 20, a weekday, to elect its new state government. The counting will be held on November 23 and the new House will be constituted before the current term of the Legislative Assembly ends on November 26. Nominations will begin on October 22 and close on October 29. The candidature can be withdrawn on November 4 after the Diwali festivities come to a close. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced the Maharashtra schedule, along with the Jharkhand poll programme, on Tuesday afternoon in New Delhi. It will be the second occasion since the summer's Lok Sabha polls that Maharashtra will have two three-party alliances facing each other.   

The announcement marked the beginning of the model code of conduct that bars governments from making policy decisions and enforces certain rules and regulations on parties, poll campaigns, candidates and government servants who manage the elections. In exceptional cases, the government may approach the Election Commission, which holds final powers to approve and reject the state plea and direct the government to do what suits it best.