Maharashtra Legislative Council: MVA wins 3 seats, Mahayuti 2

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi won three of the five Maharashtra Legislative Council seats contested in graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies, while the ruling Mahayuti won two, according to a mid-day report updated on 29 October 2026. The report said the results of the biennial elections had been declared, with the opposition winning all three graduates’ seats and the ruling alliance taking both teachers’ seats.

Congress won the Nagpur Division Graduates’ Constituency, while the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) won the Pune and Aurangabad Division Graduates’ constituencies, mid-day reported. The Bharatiya Janata Party won the Pune Division Teachers’ Constituency, and the Shiv Sena won the Amravati Division Teachers’ Constituency.

The reported outcome concerns these five constituencies, rather than an election to the entire Maharashtra Legislative Council. Graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies are separate routes of representation in the Council, alongside seats filled through local authorities, Assembly members and nomination by the Governor, as described in the Election Commission of India’s handbook for returning officers.

Opposition takes the three graduates’ seats

Congress candidate Abhijit Govindrao Wanjari won the Nagpur Division Graduates’ Constituency, according to mid-day. Its report placed the Pune and Aurangabad graduates’ seats with the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), accounting for the other two victories in the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s tally.

The two teachers’ constituencies produced a different alliance result. According to mid-day, the BJP’s victory in Pune and the Shiv Sena’s victory in Amravati gave the Mahayuti its two seats.

The distinction between constituency types matters when reading the result: Pune had separate graduates’ and teachers’ contests, and the report assigned those seats to different parties and alliances. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) won the graduates’ contest there, while the BJP won the teachers’ contest.

October timetable followed electoral-roll preparation

The Free Press Journal reported that the Election Commission had scheduled polling for the five constituencies on 23 October 2026, from 8 am to 4 pm, with counting scheduled for 27 October. Those are the dates in the reported election programme; mid-day’s results account was updated on 29 October.

According to the Free Press Journal, the programme provided for the election notification to be issued on 29 September, followed by a 6 October deadline for nominations. Scrutiny of nomination papers was scheduled for 7 October, and candidates could withdraw until 9 October.

Preparations for the Pune constituencies are documented separately on the Pune Divisional Commissioner’s website. Its page titled “Pune Division Graduate and Teachers Constituency Election 2026” lists a final electoral-roll download and separate polling-station lists for the graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies, all dated 12 October 2026.

The same official page describes the preparation of fresh electoral rolls with 1 November 2025 as the qualifying date. That date belongs to the electoral-roll exercise, not to polling or the declaration of results.

The Pune Divisional Commissioner’s page also lists separate registration documents: Form 18 for the graduates’ constituency and Form 19 for the teachers’ constituency. It provides an online registration link and a voter-search facility, distinguishing the two constituency registration processes from the later election outcome.

How Council elections differ from Assembly contests

The Election Commission’s 1992 “Handbook for Returning Officers for Elections to the Council of States and State Legislative Councils”, reprinted in 1996, explains the institutional background to these contests. It describes legislative councils as continuing bodies that are not dissolved, with approximately one-third of their members retiring every second year. Biennial elections fill vacancies arising when members complete their terms; by-elections fill vacancies arising between those scheduled retirements.

The handbook describes graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies as each electing approximately one-twelfth of a state legislative council’s membership under Article 171 of the Constitution. It distinguishes those seats from the approximately one-third elected through local authorities and one-third elected by Assembly members, with the remaining members nominated by the Governor.

It also explains the preference-based voting system used for Council elections. Under the single transferable vote system described in the handbook, voters indicate preferences by numbering candidates on the ballot. This differs from the first-past-the-post system used for Assembly elections, in which the candidate receiving the most votes wins. The handbook is historical procedural background, not the source for the October 2026 results.

For this election cycle, the Free Press Journal reported that the Election Commission’s programme required the election process to be completed by 31 October 2026. It separately reported that the terms of the sitting members representing the five constituencies were scheduled to end on 6 December 2026.