NEW DELHI: In a breather for Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the Election Commission (EC) on Friday cleared the path for conducting elections to the nine seats of the state legislative council before 27 May, bringing to an end the month-long political uncertainty.
Thackeray, who became chief minister last year without contesting the Maharashtra polls, has to be a member of the upper house by May 28--which has nine vacancies--or he will have to resign.
Top officials of EC held a meeting on Friday to take a final call on the issue and decided that elections will be held before the prescribed time but with necessary guidelines to safeguard against the pandemic, a senior official at the EC said requesting anonymity.