Maharashtra's Legislative Council elections for five Graduate and Teachers' constituencies — scheduled for Friday, 24 October 2026 — have turned into a high-stakes battleground, with widespread rebellion, internal factionalism, and tactical missteps threatening the electoral prospects of both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). As campaigning concluded on Wednesday evening, leaders from both camps scrambled to consolidate registered voters ahead of the preferential voting exercise.

Pune Graduate: MVA Divided, BJP Capitalises

Rebellion has broken out within the MVA in the Pune Graduate constituency. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), commonly referred to as NCP (SP), has fielded Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav, daughter of retired IAS officer Prabhakar Deshmukh. Sunil Modi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) — a sitting nominated corporator in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation and a former city chief — is also contesting from within the same broad opposition space, raising the spectre of a split in anti-Mahayuti votes.

Although NCP (SP) leaders insist their campaign is directed against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the absence of a consensus candidate within the MVA has created an opening for their rivals. The BJP has fielded Dr Smita Jadhav, daughter-in-law of the founder of Marathi newspaper Pudhari, and has deployed its full electoral machinery behind her candidacy.

Pune Teachers: Shinde Faction's Pivot Rattles BJP

A four-cornered contest has emerged in the Pune Teachers' constituency. The BJP nominated Kaustubh Gawde, while the Congress has renominated sitting MLA Jayant Asgaonkar. In a development that caused unease within the BJP, its Mahayuti ally Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) initially fielded Mangesh Chivate — a close confidant of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde — only to later withdraw his candidacy and throw support behind independent candidate Sachin Sanap. Dattatray Sawant, a former MLA representing the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP), is also in the contest.

Amravati Teachers: Cash-for-Vote Cloud and Multiple Rebels

The Amravati Teachers' constituency has become the most combustible seat in the cluster, with cash-for-vote allegations and a swarm of rebel candidates overshadowing official nominees. Three rebels from the BJP and one from the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) are contesting against the alliance's official picks.

Major teacher organisations — the Vidarbha Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh, Vijukta, and the Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad — have extended support to the BJP rebels, directly undermining the party's official campaign. The NUTA organisation has backed Congress nominees alongside four other teacher candidates.

The Shinde Sena has fielded sitting legislator Kiran Sarnaik; Congress has nominated Aditi Pohre; Shiv Sena (UBT) has put forward Dattatray Lahane; and the Samajwadi Ganrajya Party has fielded Suresh Devkar. Former legislator Shrikant Deshpande, Sangita Shinde — sister of BJP MP Anil Bonde — and candidates Chandrashekhar Bhoyar and Sumit Pawar are also in the fray, compounding vote-split anxiety for both alliances.

Nagpur Graduate: BJP Ballot Paper Problem

The Nagpur Graduate constituency has emerged as a prestige contest between the BJP and Congress, complicated by internal dissatisfaction on both sides. The principal contest is between Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari and BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale. Senior BJP leader Prof Anil Sole withdrew his nomination, yet his name remains on the ballot paper — a technical anomaly that could drain votes away from the official Mahayuti candidate if his residual supporters mark preference for him regardless.

Sambhajinagar Graduate: MVA Splits Its Own Vote

In the Sambhajinagar Graduate constituency, the Mahayuti has fielded three-time sitting MLC Satish Chavan under the NCP banner. The MVA, however, has replicated its coordination failure here: both the NCP (SP) — which has fielded Dr Pratap Singh Patil — and the Shiv Sena (UBT) — which has fielded Dilip Ghorge — are contesting the same seat, effectively splitting the opposition vote between two alliance partners.

Voting across all five constituencies will be conducted on Friday through the preferential voting system. With candidates across party lines reportedly attempting last-minute outreach to registered voters, the management of preference ordering is expected to be as decisive as raw vote count — and the ability of alliances to enforce internal discipline will be the defining variable in each seat.