Biennial council polls in Maharashtra, Bihar March 20

Biennial elections to replace 18 members of the Bihar and Maharashtra legislative council members retiring in April-May will be held March 20, the Election Council announced Tuesday.

The notification will be issued March 3, the last date for filing nominations will be March 10, scrutiny will take place March 11 and the last date for withdrawal will be March 13, the poll panel said.

The elections will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 20, and the counting of votes will be taken up the same day. The entire elections process shall be completed by March 22.

From Maharashtra several prominent leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Council Vinod Tawde (Bharatiya Janata Party), former state BJP chief Pandurang Phundkar, Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe, and others will be retiring on April 24.

The others retiring legislative councillors from the state include Jayprakash Chhajed, Hemant Takle, Shivajirao Deshmukh, Kiran Pawaskar, Rana Jagatsinh Patil, and Sanjay R. Patil.

From Bihar, the nine due to retire in May include: Kameshwar Chaupal, Giriraj Singh, Jyoti, Mohammed Tanweer Hassan, Vivek Thakur, M. Haroon Rashid, Prashant Shahi, Satish Kumar and Heera Bind, all retiring May 6.