In an indication of the start of the Assembly election process in Maharashtra in the late first week or early second week of October, a team of top officials from the Election Commission of India (ECI) will be in Mumbai from September 26 to 28 to review the preparations for the polls.

An ECI team led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar will arrive here from New Delhi on a three-day, on Thursday evening..

On Friday, the ECI team would meet representatives of various political parties. It would later confabulate with Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam, State Police Nodal Officer (SPNO) and Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMF), followed by meeting with enforcement agencies.

Kumar and his team will subsequently meet Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik and Director General of Police  Rashmi Shukla and top IAS and IPS officers.

On Saturday, there would be a meeting the district collectors and superintendents of police from across the state.

Earlier this month, Chockalingam had held a review with District Collectors and Chief District Election Officers across the state, in which various issues like Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the updated voters' list, status of polling material and district-level poll management, especially the availability of staff and security arrangements for free and fair elections, had been discussed.

The ECI is expected to announce the Assembly poll schedule for Maharashtra and Jharkhand in the late first week or early second week of October after the completion of the ongoing Assembly polls in J & K and Karnataka

It remains to be seen if the ECI will hold the elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in one phase - like it did in the 2019 Assembly polls - and spread out the polls in two phases.