New Delhi, 15 Oct

The Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases on 13 and 20 November, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday. The votes for the two states will be counted on 23 November.

"There are 9.63 crore eligible voters in Maharashtra, while the number of eligible voters in Jharkhand is 2.6 crore," Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference here. Bypolls will also be held in 48 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats, the CEC said

Bye-elections to 47 assembly seats and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, vacated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, will be held on 13 November.

Bypolls to the Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand and the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra will be held on 20 November. Bypolls to the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal and Milkipur in Uttar Pradesh were not announced as election petitions are pending for the two seats.

Kumar said elections will be held in both the states on Wednesdays to address the problem of urban apathy. The BJP is keen to retain power in Maharashtra along with allies Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is facing a challenge from the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition of the Congress-NCPSP-Shiv SenaUBT, which hopes to repeat its performance in the Lok Sabha elections. The Opposition MVA alliance won 31 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections.

In Jharkhand, the Congress is playing second fiddle to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, while the BJP is looking to make a comeback.