58.43 pc voters exercise franchise in Maharashtra assembly elections

MUMBAI: Altogether 58.43 per cent voters exercised their franchise Wednesday in the assembly elections in Maharashtra, where the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is vying to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine is hoping for a comeback.

The figures are provisional, election officials said, adding 61.74 per cent polling was recorded in the 2019 elections.

Voting began in all the 288 assembly seats at 7 am and ended at 6 pm. The votes will be counted on November 23.

Polling was marred by incidents of vandalism at Parli and a few places in Beed district, and also saw rival party supporters clashing in some places.

A clash broke out between Shiv Sena candidate Suhas Kande and independent candidate Sameer Bhujbal in Nandgaon assembly constituency of Nashik district.

A polling booth was vandalised and a worker of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) was assaulted in Parli assembly constituency, where minister Dhananjay Munde of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP was in the fray.

Madhav Jadhav, a local leader of the Sharad Pawar-led party was assaulted in Bank Colony area of Parli town and the video of the assault went viral on social media, after which a polling booth at Ghatnandur in the constituency was vandalised, an official said.

Some people entered the polling booth at Ghatnandur, threw the EVM on the ground and damaged the furniture in the booth, the official said.

Beed Collector Avinash Pathak said the administration replaced the EVMs and voting resumed. The data of votes cast through the earlier EVMs is safe in their control units and will be included during counting, he said.

The NCP (SP) candidate from Parli assembly constituency, Rajesaheb Deshmukh claimed that a CCTV camera was disabled at a polling booth in Dharmapuri in the constituency.

In Nashik district, a technical glitch occurred when an Electronic Voting Machine malfunctioned at a polling station, causing brief delays for voters who had already received indelible ink marks. The incident occurred at a polling centre in the Nandgaon assembly constituency.

In the most keenly-watched contest in the state, NCP chief Ajit Pawar faced his nephew Yugendra Pawar in Baramati constituency.

Voting was also held in the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll, where there was a direct fight between Ravindra Chavan of Congress and BJP's Santukrao Hambarde.

The Nanded bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress MP Vasant Chavan on August 26. Ravindra Chavan is his son.

Several Bollywood celebrities, including actors Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ranbir Kapoor cast their vote in the Maharashtra assembly elections, adding a touch of glamour to the festival of democracy.

Shah Rukh Khan arrived with wife Gauri and daughter Suhana to cast his vote. Salman Khan, who faced death threats, exercised his voting right. Saif Ali Khan and wife Kareena Kapoor also voted. Hema Malini exercised her voting right along with daughter Esha Deol.

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani, wife Neeta, sons Anant and Akash, and daughter-in-law Shloka Mehta also voted.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot exuded confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi will form government in the state.

Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said, “The atmosphere is good for the Mahayuti. People are happy with our development work. Ladki Bahin is an effective scheme and women voted in large numbers.”

Independent candidate Balasaheb Shinde, contesting from Beed, died after suffering a heart attack at a polling booth.

The 9.7 crore eligible voters in the assembly polls also included a spattering of centenarians.

At 100 years old, Kantaben Dani made her way to the polling booth in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area Wednesday morning to cast her vote, accompanied by her family, including her great-grandson.

The voters chose from among the 4,136 candidates in the fray for the 288 seats.

In the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP is contested 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded candidates in 59 constituencies.

In the opposition's MVA combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) put up 86 candidates.

Parties like Bahujan Samaj Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), also contested, with BSP fielding 237 candidates and AIMIM putting up 17 candidates.

The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, banked on its popular schemes like Majhi Ladki Bahin for women helping it retain power.

The MVA, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) focused on issues like caste-based census, social justice, and protecting the Constitution.

The number of candidates this time increased by 28 per cent compared to the 2019 state assembly elections. This year, 4,136 candidates contested, up from 3,239 in 2019 elections.

Among these candidates, 2,086 were independents. Rebels were in the fray in over 150 constituencies, with candidates from the Mahayuti and MVA contesting against their party's official nominees.

There were 1,00,186 polling booths in Maharashtra this time, compared to 96,654 booths in the 2019 assembly elections.