In what comes as a huge relief for Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the Election Commission on Friday announced the schedule for the election to the Legislative Council in the state, declaring that the polls will be held on May 21.
The state was staring at a constitutional crisis as May-end was the deadline for Thackeray to become a legislator in order to continue as chief minister. He had taken oath as CM on November 28, 2019. He was supposed to get elected to the legislative council of the state in the elections that were earlier scheduled to be held on March 26, but which were postponed indefinitely by the Commission in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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The date of issue of notification of the election is May 4 and the last date for submitting nominations is May 11. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on May 12, and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is May 14. Polling will be held on May 21 between 9am and 4pm. The counting of votes will be carried out on May 21 itself at 5pm.
In an unusual meeting held over video-conferencing, with Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora joining a video call with his colleagues, Election Commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra from the US, the Commission reviewed the matter concerning the feasibility of conduct of biennial election for the nine vacant MLC seats in Maharashtra. The nine seats had fallen vacant on April 24, 2020.
The meeting was held following a letter from the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari indicating the feasibility of conducting elections in the state. The Governor mentioned that Thackeray was sworn in as chief minister on November 28, 2019 and pointed out that as per constitutional provisions he has to become a member of either the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council within a period of six months, which is on or before May 27, 2020. He further stated that the ground level situation is contained and as of now appears to be improving with several relaxations being made by the government.
The state government had its share of jitters as Koshiyari was perceived as not expediting action on the necessity of holding elections to the legislative council. In this backdrop, Thackeray had dialled Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Commission also received a letter from the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra writing to the Commission on Thursday in which the measures taken to control the pandemic were enlisted and the state government's assessment that the elections could be held in a safe environment was put forth. The state government assured the poll panel that it was fully committed to ensuring that the election was held amid hygienic conditions with social distancing and other conditions.
The Maharashtra government also cited the Union Home Ministry’s order dated April 29 permitting the movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded due to lockdown orders.
The Commission also took note of representations from various political parties – the Maharashtra Vidhanmandal Congress Paksh, the Shiv Sena VidhiMandal Paksh and the Rashtravadi Congress Party requesting the panel to conduct the election. According to a statement from the Commission, the panel reviewed past precedents in such unforeseen situations had occured. In cases of former Prime Ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1991 and H.D. Deve Gowda in 1996, and several chief ministers, like Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan, 1991), Vijay Bhaskar Reddy (Andhra Pradesh, 1993), as also instances in Uttar Pradesh and Nagaland, when the Commission conducted by-elections to fulfil a similar constitutional requirement. It was noted by the Commission that this has been the consistent practice in the past.
The Commission also decided that the Union Home Secretary, who is Chairperson of National Executive Committee in ex-officio capacity under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, should depute an officer of suitable seniority to ensure that the preventive measures are put in place for the smooth conduct of the electoral process.
It also asked the Chief Secretary to depute an officer from the state to ensure that the instructions regarding COVID-19 are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections. It has appointed the Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra as Observer for the election.