The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday, May 18, announced bye-election to one seat and biennial elections to 16 seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from Local Authorities’ Constituencies. The polling is scheduled for June 18 and the counting of the votes will be held on June 22.
The 16 seats span constituencies including Solapur, Ahmednagar, Thane, Jalgaon, Pune, Nashik, Amravati, and Aurangabad-cum-Jalna, among others, whose terms expired between January 2022 and August 2025. The seats could not be filled earlier due to non-fulfillment of the 75% local bodies functioning criteria.
The bye-election covers the Nagpur Local Authorities’ Constituency, vacated by Chandrashekhar Krishnaraoji Bawankule.
The constituencies that will be going to polls include Solapur, Ahmednagar, Thane, Jagaon, Sangli cum Satara, Nanded, Yavatmal, Pune, Bhandara cum Gondia, Raigad cum Ratnagiri cum Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha cum Chandrapur cum Gadchiroli, Amravati, Osmanavad cum Latur cum Beed, Parbhani cum Hingoli, and Aurangabad cum Jalna.
“As per the guideline laid down by the Commission, at least 75 per cent local bodies in a Local Authorities' Constituency should be functioning and at least 75 per cent electors therein should be in position, for an election to be conducted from that Constituency,” the Election Commission notification read.
It further read: “Biennial elections to fill up the above-mentioned 16 seats could not be conducted at the time due to non-fulfillment of the aforesaid criteria. Now, CEO Maharashtra has informed that these criteria have been fulfilled in respect of all the said Constituencies.”
Bye-election to Nagpur
The bye-election for the Nagpur Local Authorities' Constituency was necessitated after a casual vacancy was created by Chandrashekhar Krishnaraoji Bawankule.
Chandrashekhar Krishnaraoji Bawankule vacated the MLC seat on November 23, 2024, following his election to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The retirement date for this specific seat is January 1, 2028.
As per the election schedule, the notification for both the biennial election and the by-election will be issued on May 25, while the last date for filing nominations is June 1. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 2, and candidates can withdraw their nominations till June 4.
Polling to 16 biennial seats and one bye-election seat will be held on June 18 between 8 am and 4 pm, while counting of votes will take place on June 22. The election process will be completed by June 25.
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will come into force immediately, the Election Commission notification read.
