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The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced biennial elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) from 16 Local Authorities’ Constituencies across the state, along with a by-election for the Nagpur Local Authorities’ Constituency.

According to official press notes issued by the Commission, the biennial elections are being conducted as the terms of office of 16 Maharashtra Legislative Council members from various Local Authorities’ Constituencies have expired.

The constituencies include Solapur, Ahmednagar, Thane, Jalgaon, Sangli-cum-Satara, Nanded, Yavatmal, Pune, Bhandara-cum-Gondia, Raigad-cum-Ratnagiri-cum-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-cum-Chandrapur-cum-Gadchiroli, Amravati, Osmanabad-cum-Latur-cum-Beed, Parbhani-cum-Hingoli and Aurangabad-cum-Jalna.

Nagpur MLC seat vacant after Bawankule’s Assembly election

The poll body also announced a by-election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council seat from the Nagpur Local Authorities’ Constituency.

According to the Commission, the seat fell vacant after Bawankule Chandrashekhar Krishnaraoji was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The vacancy date was recorded as November 23, 2024.

Elections delayed earlier due to non-fulfilment of criteria

The Election Commission stated that elections to these seats could not be conducted earlier as the required conditions regarding the functioning of local bodies and availability of electors had not been fulfilled.

As per the Commission’s guidelines, at least 75 per cent of local bodies in a Local Authorities’ Constituency and 75 per cent of electors therein should be functional for elections to be conducted.

The Commission said the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra has now informed that the required conditions have been fulfilled in all the concerned constituencies, paving the way for the elections.

Poll schedule announced

According to the election programme released by the Commission:

Issue of notification: May 25, 2026 (Monday)
Last date for making nominations: June 1, 2026 (Monday)
Scrutiny of nominations: June 2, 2026 (Tuesday)
Last date for withdrawal of candidature: June 4, 2026 (Thursday)
Date of poll: June 18, 2026 (Thursday)
Polling hours: 8 am to 4 pm
Counting of votes: June 22, 2026 (Monday)
Election process to be completed by: June 25, 2026 (Thursday)

Model Code of Conduct comes into effect

The ECI said the Model Code of Conduct has come into immediate effect in all the concerned constituencies following the announcement of the election schedule.