Nine seats of Maharashtra Legislative Council are falling vacant in May, due to which the Election Commission has announced MLC elections. Voting will take place on May 12, while the nomination process will begin on April 23.
Mumbai: Maharashtra politics has once again reached a turning point, as the State Election Commission has announced the election schedule for 9 vacant seats of the Legislative Council (MLC). Voting for these seats will take place on May 12, 2026, from 9 AM to 4 PM, while the counting of votes will start after 5 PM on the same day.
These elections are being considered an important contest to decide the political direction of the state, as the tenure of many big leaders is coming to an end, including former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Shashikant Shinde and NCP leader Amol Mitkari.
Election schedule announced: Nomination starts from April 23
According to the Election Commission, the nomination process for MLC elections will start from April 23, 2026. The last date for filing nominations has been fixed as April 30. Candidates will be able to withdraw their names till May 4. Voting is scheduled for May 12 and the results will also be declared on the same day. This process will intensify the political activities of Maharashtra, because all the parties are busy solving their respective equations.
Which leaders’ tenure is coming to an end?
The members whose tenure is expiring on these 9 seats include:
- Uddhav Thackeray
- Shashikant Shinde
- Amol Mitkari
- Sanjay Kishanrao Kenekar
- Neelam Diwakar
- Sandeep Diwakar Joshi
- Dada Rao Yadav Rao K
- Ranjit Singh Vijay Singh Mohite-Patil
- Rajesh Dhondiram Rathod
The tenure of all of them is ending on 13 May 2026, due to which it has become mandatory to hold elections.
Will Uddhav Thackeray be able to become MLC again?
The biggest political question is whether Uddhav Thackeray will once again become a member of the Legislative Council or not. There are a total of 288 members in the present assembly. The political equations are as follows:
- BJP: 132 MLAs
- Eknath Shinde faction: 56 MLAs
- NCP: 41 MLAs
- Shiv Sena (Ubhatha): 21 MLAs
- Congress: 16 MLAs
- NCP (Sharad Pawar faction): 10 MLAs
- Others: 12 MLAs
On the basis of these figures, the ruling party seems to have the upper hand. The opposition alliance—Shiv Sena (Ubhatha), Congress and Sharad Pawar faction’s NCP—does not have enough numbers to win more than one seat on its own.
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