EC may give nod to council polls in Maharashtra

New Delhi, May 01: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to allow the polls to the legislative council in Maharashtra.

Polls are due to be held for nine council seats. These elections would give Maharashtra Chief Minster, Uddhav Thackeray an opportunity to get elected to the council. His six month deadline of being elected to the council ends on May 27.

A meeting of the Election Commission of India is scheduled to be held later today. The meeting would discuss the elections in Maharashtra. A minimum 21 day period is required between the announcement and the date of elections. The EC is likely to announce the schedule as soon as possible since the polls need to be completed by May 27.

The decision of the EC to deliberate on the subject was taken after requests from the Shiv Sena and NCP to hold the elections. Earlier the two parties had requested the Governor to nominate Thackeray, but he remained noncommittal. Thackeray then called Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and appraised him about the situation. Following this, the Governor called on the Election Commission and sought that the polls be held.

The polls were postponed due to the COVID-19 situation. On Thursday, the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra in a letter to the EC put his stamp of approval over holding the MLC elections.