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Election Commission decides to hold election to legislative council in Maharashtra on May 21

The EC's decision to hold the legislative council elections in Maharashtra on nine vacant seats comes after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leader and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari wrote to a letter requesting the same.

Election Commission decides to hold election to legislative council in Maharashtra on May 21
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Days after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone to discuss his nomination to the state legislative council, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday, 1 May, granted permission for holding elections in Maharashtra on 21 May,

Uddhav Thackeray was swore-in as Maharashtra Chief Minister on November 28, 2019, and is not the member of either house - legislative assembly or council. According to the Indian constitution, within six months of taking the oath, any minister is supposed to get elected in either state legislative assembly or council. The deadline for him to get elected to the state legislative council is May 27. 

The EC's decision to hold the legislative council elections in Maharashtra on nine vacant seats comes after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leader and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari wrote to a letter requesting the same. 

This was decided in a meeting held via video conferencing with Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora who joined from the United States of America (USA).  

The Governor wrote to the ECI while requesting to fill the seats of the Maharashtra legislative council as they have been lying vacant from April 24. This would end the current uncertainty or instability in the state amid the pending nomination of Uddhav Thackeray as an MLC. 

“The central government has announced many relaxation measures regarding the enforcement of lockdown in the country. As such the elections to the council seats can be held with certain guidelines,” the letter was written by Governor Koshyari to ECI read. 

This development came hours after Maharashtra Urban Development Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena leader Milind Narvekar on Thursday met the Governor at Raj Bhavan. 

The MVA leaders had also written to the Election Commission earlier requesting to hold an election to the legislative council. The EC’s decision to hold polls comes as a huge relief for Uddhav Thackeray and is followed by his phone call to the Prime Minister earlier. 

During his conversation with Modi, Thackeray urged him to intervene in the matter stating that the country was combating the deadly coronavirus or COVID-19 and that Maharashtra was the worst-hit state due to the pandemic. 

In order to put pressure, the Maharashtra cabinet earlier recommended Uddhav Thackeray’s name to the governor for his nomination as an MLC twice. 

Also Read - Uddhav Thackeray's MLC Nomination: MVA Leaders Exploring Options To Avoid Constitutional Crisis

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