New Delhi: The schedule for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls will be announced by the Election Commission (EC) at 3.30 pm on Tuesday. While the term of the Maharashtra assembly ends on November 26, that of Jharkhand ends on January 5 next year.
Besides the general elections to the two assemblies, the EC can also announce bypolls to three Lok Sabha and at least 47 assembly seats that are vacant due to various reasons. The three vacant Lok Sabha seats are Wayanad in Kerala, Nanded in Maharashtra, and Basirhat in West Bengal.
The Wayanad seat was vacated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as he retained the Raebareli seat. He had won the Lok Sabha polls from both the seats. Congress MP Vasant Chavan, who represented Nanded, and TMC MP Haji Sheikh Nurul Islam, who represented Basirhat, passed away recently.
Bypolls will also be held in Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies. The by-elections have been triggered by the recent victories of Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil and Chelakkara MLA K Radhakrishnan in the Lok Sabha elections, representing Vadakara and Alathur, respectively.