14 member ECI team to review election preparations ahead of Maharashtra assembly polls

PUNE: A 14-member Election Commission of India (ECI) team will be in Mumbai from September 26-28 to review preparations for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections and also hold discussions with various political parties.
The ECI team was in Jharkhand on Monday ahead of the assembly elections preparations. Schedules for both Jharkhand and Maharashtra assembly elections are expected to be announced after these review meetings held in both the states.
Sources from the state govt confirmed to TOI that the officials are expected to reach on September 26 late at night and conduct discussions with the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) staff on September 27, followed by a meeting with political parties.
"The team will be in the state till September 28. They would also conduct a series of meetings with govt officials and law enforcement agencies to ensure everything is in order ahead of the assembly elections," said the source from the state govt. The current term of the assembly expires on November 26.
The ECI team, led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, arrived in Ranchi on Monday to review preparations for the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections.
During the two-day visit, the commission is scheduled to conduct a series of four meetings with political parties and their leaders, enforcement agencies, and govt officials to ensure everything is in order for the elections. A similar exercise will be carried out in the state too, said the state govt sources on Monday to TOI.
Last Sunday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said that the assembly elections may likely take place in the second week of November. In the previous elections, Maharashtra had a single phase of elections for the assembly elections. According to the data, elections were held in a single phase in 2009, 2014, and 2019.
Recently, the state election office in the first week of September had met with district election officers, district collectors, and district election officials and reviewed the preparations for the elections in 288 assembly constituencies.
The election officials had reviewed the status of electronic voting machines, the updated voters’ list, the status of polling material, and district-level poll management, especially the availability of the required number of staff and security arrangements for free and fair elections. The state, after the summary revision drive, has a total of 9.5 crore registered voters till the end of August, with an addition of around 16 lakh voters.
Previous assembly elections:
2009--Election held on October 13
2014--Election held on October 15
2019--Election held on October 21