Nagpur: Maharashtra’s electoral calendar has moved into another important phase with Election Commission announcing biennial elections to five seats in the state Legislative Council from the Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies. The polling will be held on Oct 23, with votes to be counted on Oct 27.The announcement by EC covers three Graduates’ constituencies — Aurangabad, Pune and Nagpur divisions — and two Teachers’ constituencies — Amravati and Pune divisions. The five seats are falling vacant as the terms of the sitting members expire on Dec 6, 2026.The election schedule gives political parties, prospective candidates and eligible voters a little over a month before polling. The formal notification will be issued on Sept 29. Candidates can file nominations until Oct 6, followed by scrutiny on Oct 7. The final date for withdrawal of candidature is Oct 9. EC has fixed Oct 31 as the deadline for completing the entire electoral process.The five constituencies are part of Maharashtra Legislative Council’s special electoral system in which separate electoral rolls are maintained for Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies. Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) Maharashtra website provides separate registration and electoral-roll facilities for these constituencies.The current representatives whose terms are ending are Satish Chavan from Aurangabad Division Graduates’ constituency, Arun Lad from Pune Division Graduates’ constituency and Abhijit Wanjari from Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency. The two Teachers’ seats are currently represented by Kiran Sarnaik from Amravati Division and Jayant Aasgavkar from Pune Division.The election announcement is also important from an organisational perspective because the five constituencies cover a wide geographical area and have electorates distinct from those of ordinary assembly constituencies. Maharashtra CEO’s office has been maintaining dedicated electoral-roll systems for the Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies, including facilities for voter registration and checking electoral-roll details.The electoral-roll exercise had been undertaken with Nov 1, 2025, as the qualifying date. The official Maharashtra CEO portal provides separate forms and procedures for enrolment of Graduates’ and Teachers’ electors, including Form 18 for Graduates’ constituencies and Form 19 for Teachers’ constituencies.For voters, the distinction between the two types of constituencies is central to the election. Only eligible electors whose names are included in the relevant electoral rolls can participate. CEO’s portal specifically identifies the five constituencies to be covered in the 2026 election.Election Commission has simultaneously announced biennial Legislative Council elections in Bihar, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Across the four states, 28 seats from Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies will be contested. Maharashtra accounts for five of those seats, compared with eight in Bihar, four in Karnataka and 11 in Uttar Pradesh.#MAHARASHTRA LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTION 2026DATE——ELECTION PROCESSSEPTEMBER 29—— Nomination process beginsOCTOBER 6—— Last date for filing nominationsOCTOBER 7—— Scrutiny of nominationsOCTOBER 9—— Last date for withdrawalOCTOBER 23—— Polling dayOCTOBER 27—— Counting of votesOCTOBER 31—— Election process must be completedCURRENT MLCs WHOSE TERMS WILL END ON DEC 6:Abhijit Wanjari — Nagpur Division Graduates’ ConstituencyKiran Sarnaik — Amravati Division Teachers’ ConstituencySatish Chavan — Aurangabad Division Graduates’ ConstituencyArun Lad — Pune Division Graduates’ ConstituencyJayant Aasgavkar — Pune Division Teachers’ Constituency
