2019 Maharashtra Polls: Here Are the Key Stats You Need to Know

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

When Maharashtra goes to polls on Monday, 21 October, 3,237 candidates across 288 constituencies will test their fate.

Here’s all that you need to know about the Maharashtra Assembly polls:

• The state boasts of having over 8.9 crore eligible voters, of which 1.17 lakh are service voters
• The main parties in the fray are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
• The Assembly polls will see a battle of two alliances – the BJP and Shiv Sena on one hand, and the Congress-NCP on the other
• The Election Commission had received 5,543 applications for all the 288 constituencies in the state, but 3,237 nominees were left in the race after withdrawals and rejection of nearly 800 applications.
• There are almost 708 candidates with criminal records, of which 96 are from the BJP, 83 from Congress, 75 from Shiv Sena, 73 from NCP, 49 from MNS, 52 from NCR and 280 are independent candidates.
• There are 550 crorepati candidates, of which 155 are from BJP, 126 are from Congress, 116 are from Shiv Sena, 101 are from NCP and 52 are from MNS
• This is the first time that someone from the Thackeray family is contesting an election – Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya Thackeray
• Devendra Fadnavis will become the first chief minister of the state in nearly 50 years to complete a full five-year tenure.

In 2014, the alliance of BJP and Shiv Sena won a total of 185 seats out of 288 seats, ousting the Congress government.

Will Maharashtra see a repeat of 2014? Will Maharashtra give the Devendra Fadnavis government a second chance? We will know on 24 October when the results of the Assembly elections are announced.