Maharashtra MLC elections 2026: 182 candidates in fray across five constituencies

Voting began on Friday October 23 in five Maharashtra Legislative Council MLC constituencies covering teachers and graduates seats The contest will test the strength of the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition MVA in the state legislatures upper houseAs per PTI a total of 182 candidates are in the fray with both sides having been hit by rebellionOfficials said that the polling for the Maharashtra MLC began at 8 am and will continue till 4 pm across 2419 polling stations where 1068072 voters will exercise their franchise as per PTIElection process to be completed by October 31While the counting of votes is scheduled for October 27 the election process will be completed by October 31 the officials saidThe biennial elections are being held for five seats three Graduates and two Teachers constituencies in the 78member Legislative Council These are Pune Division Graduates Nagpur Division Graduates Pune Division Teachers Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Aurangabad Graduates and Amravati Teachers constituenciesThe polls have been necessitated because the term of the sitting members ends on December 6The Mahayuti comprising the BJP Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawarled NCP and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA alliance of the Congress Sharad Pawarled NCP SP and Uddhav Thackerayheaded Shiv Sena UBT are contesting all five seatsShiv Sena vs Congress in AmravatiIn the Amravati Teachers constituency sitting MLC Kiran Sarnaik is contesting on a Shiv Sena ticket against Congress candidate Aditi Pohare The Shiv Sena UBT has also fielded a candidateAccording to officials in the Pune Graduates constituency the BJP has fielded Smita Jadhav against NCP SP candidate Harshada Deshmukh while Shiv Sena UBT has also fielded a candidate in the same constituency making it a threeway contestIn the Pune Teachers constituency the BJP has fielded Kaustubh Gawde against sitting MLC Jayant Asgaonkar of the Congress The Shiv Sena is backing independent candidate Sachin Sanap an officer on special duty OSD to state minister Uday SamantNCP vs NCP SP in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates constituencyThe Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates constituency is witnessing a contest between sitting MLC Satish Chavan of the NCP and NCP SP candidate Pratapsinh Patil Shiv Sena UBT has also fielded a candidate hereBJP rebel Anil Sole takes on MLC Abhijit WanjariIn the Nagpur Graduates constituency sitting MLC Abhijit Wanjari is pitted against BJP nominee Sudhakar Kohale BJP rebel Anil Sole has withdrawn from the contest and extended support to Kohale though his name will remain on the ballot said officialsThe Pune Graduates constituency has the highest number of candidates at 47 followed by Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduatesmdash41 Nagpur Graduatesmdash38 Pune Teachersmdash30 and Amravati Teachersmdash26Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates constituency has the highest number of polling stations at 842 followed by Pune graduates 741 Nagpur graduates 445 Pune teachers 310 and Amravati teachers 81In the 78member Legislative Council the BJP is the largest party with 35 members followed by the Shiv Sena with 12 and the NCP with 10 Among the opposition parties the Congress and Shiv Sena UBT have five MLCs each while the NCP SP has two The House also has four independent MLCs With inputs from PTI