New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS): Assembly elections in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, and in Jharkhand in two phases on November 13 and 20, and the results of both will be declared on November 23, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.

The Assemblies of Maharashtra and Jharkhand have 288 seats and 81 seats, respectively.

Announcing the poll schedule for Maharashtra, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the notification for the polls would be issued on October 22 and nominations would open the same day, and the last date would be October 29. Scrutiny will be held on October 30 and the last date of withdrawal would be November 4.

In Jharkhand, the notification for the two phases would be issued on October 18 and October 22, and nominations would open that day only, and the last date for filing candidatures would be October 25 and 29. Scrutiny will be held on October 28 and 30 and the last date of withdrawal of nominations will be October 30 and November 1.

The CEC, who was flanked by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, said that the model code of conduct comes into place right away with the announcement of the poll schedule. Citing the preparations for the polls, the CEC said that they had chosen the middle of the week to deal with the issue of "urban apathy". He said a special meeting would be held soon on this issue.

According to the poll panel, the total electorate of Maharashtra comprises 9.63 crore (4.77 crore men and 4.66 women). and in Jharkhand, the number of voters is 2.6 crore (1.31 crore men and 1.29 crore women).

The Election Commission said that a total of 1,00,186 polling stations would be set up at 25,789 locations in Maharashtra, and 29,562 polling stations at 20,281 locations in Jharkhand.

In Maharashtra, the ruling MahaYuti, comprising the BJP, the Shiv Sena, and the National Congress Party faces the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena-UBT, the Congress, and the National Congress Party-Sharad Pawar.

The contest in Jharkhand will be between the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and its allies, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, which also comprises the Janata Dal-United, and the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas, as well as the All Jharkhand Students Union.