MUMBAI: An estimated 64.72% voter turnout was recorded in the Maharashtra assembly elections on Wednesday, where the ruling BJP-led MahaYuti alliance is making a determined bid to retain power and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition is hoping to continue its good showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The figures are provisional, election officials said, adding 61.74% polling was recorded in the 2019 assembly elections in the state.
The Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district recorded the top turnout of 73.68%, while the country’s financial capital Mumbai saw the lowest at 51.41%. In the 2019 polls, Mumbai’s polling figure stood at 52.07%.
In the MahaYuti alliance, the BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81, 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.
BSP fielded 237 candidates, while AIMIM putting up 17 candidates.
The MVA combine had performed well in this year’s Lok Sabha polls by securing 30 out of 48 seats in the state.
Several Bollywood celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ranbir Kapoor, cast their votes adding a touch of glamour to the polling day.
The voting for the 288 assembly seats began at 7 am and people sealed the fate of over 4,100 contesting candidates across 1,00,186 booths, an increase from 96,654 in the 2019 elections.
In the high-voltage election, physical fights broke out between MVA and MahaYuti workers at some places. In Baramati, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar’s mother Sharmila complained that in the polling booth, deputy CM Ajit Pawar-led NCP workers were blocking the entry of people and asking them to vote for the Ajit faction.
In Beed district’s Parli, party workers allegedly belonging to NCP minister Dhananjay Munde assaulted Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s local worker. The video of this assault got viral on social media. NCP workers even vandalised polling booths by breaking EVMs. Beed Collector Avinash Pathak said the administration replaced the damaged EVMs. “We are taking strict action in such incidents,” 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.
A bitter fight was witnessed in Nashik, where Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande allegedly threatened independent candidate Sameer Bhujbal over voter fraud in the Nandgaon constituency. Sameer Bhujbal is nephew of NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
In Mumbai’s Sion, BJP MLC Prasad Lad and Pravin Darekar involved in a fight with police.
BJP, Cong key players
In MahaYuti, the BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP in 59 constituencies. In opposition’s MVA combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) put up 86.
Fadnavis in RSS HQ
Deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis visited the RSS HQ in Nagpur after voting for the assembly polls concluded. Fadnavis is seeking another term from the Nagpur South West segment.