Voting in the northern state of Haryana and western state of Maharashtra, home to the financial hub of Mumbai, will be on October 21, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said. Votes will be counted on October 24, he said. The last date for filing nominations is October 4 and the deadline for withdrawing them is October 7. These are the first state polls after the national election this year that the BJP swept, clearing the way for a second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PM Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in both of the states. The party won all of the seats in Haryana in the May general election.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.
The ruling BJP and its ally Shiv Sena have already jump-started their campaign in Maharashtra, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis taking out a Maha Jan Aadesh Yatra last month to reach out to voters in the state. The outreach programme was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
