ECI announces biennial polls to 17 Maharashtra Legislative Council seats, bypoll for Nagpur constituency

The Election Commission of India ECI on Monday announced biennial elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council MLC from 17 Local Authoritiesrsquo Constituencies across the state along with a byelection for the Nagpur Local Authoritiesrsquo ConstituencyThe polling is scheduled on June 18 and the counting of votes will be conducted on June 22 According to the press note the ECI has announced a tight schedule for the electoral process which is set to conclude by late JuneThe notification will be issued on May 25 nominations can be filed till June 1 scrutiny will take place on June 2 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is June 4Constituencies includeSolapur Prashant Prabhakar Paricharak Retired January 1 2022Ahmednagar Arunkaka Babhimrao Jagtap Retired January 1 2022Thane Phatak Ravindra Sadanand Retired June 8 2022Jalgaon Chandubhai V Patel Retired December 5 2022SanglicumSatara Kadam Mohanrao Shripati Retired December 5 2022Nanded Amarnath Anantrao Rajurkar Retired December 5 2022Yavatmal Dushyant Satish Chaturvedi Retired December 5 2022Pune Anil Shivajirao Bhosale Retired December 5 2022BhandaracumGondia Dr Parinay Ramesh Fuke Retired December 5 2022RaigadcumRatnagiricumSindhudurg Aniket Sunil Tatkare Retired May 31 2024Nashik Narendra Bhikaji Darade Retired June 21 2024WardhacumChandrapurcumGadchiroli Ramdas Bhagwanji Ambatkar Retired June 21 2024Amravati Pravin Ramchandra Pote Retired June 21 2024OsmanabadcumLaturcumBeed Dhas Suresh Ramchandra Retired June 21 2024ParbhanicumHingoli Viplove Gopikishan Bajoria Retired June 21 2024AurangabadcumJalna Ambadas Eknathrao Danve Retired August 29 2025Nagpur MLC seat vacant after Bawankulersquos Assembly electionFor the 17th seat from the Nagpur Local Authoritiesrsquo Constituency which fell vacant on November 23 2024 after BJP legislator Chandrashekhar Bawankule resigned polling will also be held on June 18Bawankule originally scheduled to serve until January 1 2028 vacated the seat after contesting and winning the Kamthi Assembly constituency in the state electionsThe upcoming elections will fill vacancies that have been piling up since 2022ECI to hold polls in 17 Maharashtra local bodies seatsAs per ECI guidelines elections to a Local Authoritiesrsquo constituency can be held only if at least 75 per cent of the local bodies in that constituency are functional and at least 75 per cent of the electors in those bodies are in placeHowever due to the expiry of terms and prolonged delays in holding local body elections in Maharashtra including municipal corporations municipal councils and zilla parishads these conditions were not met for several years leaving representation from these constituencies suspendedThe situation has now improved The Chief Electoral Officer CEO of Maharashtra has recently informed the Election Commission that the required 75 per cent threshold of functional local bodies and electors has now been achieved across all 17 affected constituencies enabling the resumption of electionsThese seats have remained vacant for different durations with some having fallen vacant as early as January 2022Poll schedule announcedAccording to the election programme released by the CommissionIssue of notification May 25 2026 MondayLast date for making nominations June 1 2026 MondayScrutiny of nominations June 2 2026 TuesdayLast date for withdrawal of candidature June 4 2026 ThursdayDate of poll June 18 2026 ThursdayPolling hours 8 am to 4 pmCounting of votes June 22 2026 MondayElection process to be completed by June 25 2026 ThursdayModel Code of Conduct comes into effectThe Model Code of Conduct MCC for the biennial elections has come into force immediately across all concerned constituenciesPolitical parties and sitting representatives in these areas must strictly follow the ECIrsquos guidelines which bar new policy announcements administrative transfers and major government advertisements in the polling zones until the election process concludes on June 25