All 288 Assembly Constituencies in Maharashtra is set to vote on 20th November 2024 (Wednesday) along with 38 ACs in Jharkhand.  The bye elections in 15 ACs across four States and at 16-Nanded Parliamentary Constituency in Maharashtra will also be held on the same day.

Polling in 43 ACs in Jharkhand was conducted on 13th November 2024 in the first phase. The date of counting for the State Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and for the bye polls will be done on 23rd November 2024 (Saturday).

Hours ahead of the crucial elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on 17th November 2024 that its Enforcement Agencies have seized over Rs.1000 crore worth of cash, liquor, drugs, freebies and other inducements in the ongoing elections to the State Legislative Assemblies of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and bye-polls.

Overall Rs 858 crores worth of seizures have been reported for the states of Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which is 7 times the seizures done during the assembly elections in 2019, it said.

In Maharashtra, noteworthy operations included seizure of Rs. 3.70 crores of cash from a suspicious Jeep in Wada police station area in Palghar District. In another noteworthy incident, in Jamod AC of Buldhana district, 4500 kg of Ganja plants worth Rs 4.51 crores were seized. In Raigad, Rs. 5.20 crores worth of silver bars were seized.

Jharkhand also witnessed record seizures and this time focus was also to curb illicit mining activities which resulted in seizures of illegal mining materials and machines involved. In a single incident, Rs. 2.26 crores worth of illegal mining material was seized in Rajmahal AC in Sahibganj district and many such actions included seizures related to illegal mining activities. Another focus area was to have strict vigil over drugs movement from neighbouring state.  In Daltonganj, 687 kg of Poppy straw was seized, while in Hazaribagh 48.18 Kg of Marijuana was seized.

The Commission also informed that tightened vigil has resulted in significant seizures in all cohorts. Amongst big seizure incidents, in Rajasthan, 449 cartons of liquor consignment were seized at Nagaur while in transit from one neighbouring state to another. The cartons were hidden behind many layers of boxes of potatoes.