Maharashtra Legislative Council polls begin across five seats as Mahayuti and MVA face off

Voting began on Friday morning across five Maharashtra Legislative Council constituencies, setting off a decisive contest between the governing Mahayuti coalition and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

A total of 182 candidates are competing for five seats in the 78-member upper house — three Graduates' and two Teachers' constituencies. Polling opened at 8 am and will run until 4 pm across 2,419 polling stations, with election officials confirming that 10,68,072 registered voters are eligible to take part. Counting will take place on 27 October, with the full electoral exercise concluding by 31 October ahead of the sitting members' terms ending on 6 December.

The biennial elections are taking place in the Pune Division Graduates', Nagpur Division Graduates', Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates', Pune Division Teachers', and Amravati Teachers' constituencies.

The seats and numbers in the race

The scale of participation varies considerably across the five divisions, reflecting high engagement among registered professionals and educators throughout the state:

Pune Graduates has the largest electorate at 3,88,019 voters, while Amravati Teachers has the smallest at 35,810. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has the highest concentration of polling booths at 842.

Key contests and party lineups

The ruling Mahayuti alliance — comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and the Sunetra Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party — enters the polls backed by strong numerical stability in the Legislative Council. The BJP is the single largest party in the upper house with 35 seats, alongside 12 members from the Shiv Sena and 10 from the NCP.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi combines the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). In the current house, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) hold five seats each, while the NCP (SP) holds two, alongside four independent members.

In the Nagpur Graduates' constituency, the BJP has fielded Sudhakar Kohale against sitting MLC Abhijit Wanjari of the Congress. BJP rebel candidate Anil Sole withdrew from the race to back Kohale, although his name remains on the printed ballot.

In Pune Graduates, the BJP's Smita Jadhav is contesting against Harshada Deshmukh of the NCP (SP), while Shiv Sena (UBT) has also entered the fray. For the Pune Teachers' seat, the BJP has nominated Kaustubh Gawde against sitting Congress MLC Jayant Asgaonkar, while the Shiv Sena is backing independent nominee Sachin Sanap.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, sitting MLC Satish Chavan of the NCP faces Pratapsinh Patil of the NCP (SP), alongside a candidate from Shiv Sena (UBT). In the Amravati Teachers' seat, sitting MLC Kiran Sarnaik is running on a Shiv Sena ticket, challenged by Congress nominee Aditi Pohare and a candidate fielded by Shiv Sena (UBT).

Election authorities confirmed that extensive arrangements were completed across all five divisions to guarantee a smooth, orderly, and transparent polling process.