Mumbai Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has said that the assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra before the end of the term of the assembly i.e. before 26th November. Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who was on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, and two Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and SS Sandhu, took stock of the preparations for the elections and then held a press conference on Saturday and said that the elections would be held on time. It is believed that elections can be announced any day after the election results of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana are declared on October 8.
The Election Commission team reviewed the preparations for the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The Election Commissioners met the District Election Officers as well as Superintendents of Police and other officials of all the districts. The Election Commission team met leaders of 11 parties including Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, BSP, AAP. All parties requested to announce the election dates keeping in mind the festivals like Diwali, Dev Diwali and Chhath Puja. It is believed that along with Maharashtra, Jharkhand assembly elections will also be announced. Before Maharashtra, the Election Commission team had gone on a tour of Jharkhand.
However, the Election Commission had earlier asked the Maharashtra government to transfer those officers who are posted in their home district or have been serving for more than three years in the current posting. In this matter, the Election Commission on Friday, September 27 sought answers from the Chief Secretary and DGP of Maharashtra on non-compliance of the order. The Maharashtra government has delayed in implementing the Election Commission’s order.