Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: Around 65% voter turnout recorded; Gadchiroli tops list

Mumbai: An estimated 62-65 per cent of the 9.70 crore voters exercised their franchise in Maharashtra in one of the most-keenly contested and difficult-to-predict bipolar elections involving multiple parties - which can change the course of national politics. 

According to details available from the Chief Electoral Officer's office, between 0700 hrs and 1700 hrs, an average 58.22 per cent polling was reported - the highest being in the Naxalite-infested Gadchiroli district, which reported 69.63 per cent voting.

Commoners stood in queue with who's who and celebrities for the crucial voting.  

Constitution, Hindutva, regional pride, schemes like Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, anti-incumbency, party splits, the burning reservation issue leading to caste-divide, communal narratives, agrarian distress, urban issues are some of the factors that would decide the outcome. 

Barring a few untoward incidents, the election process, however, was otherwise peaceful.

But, the war-of-words between the ruling Maha Yuti (NDA) and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (INDIA) bloc, heightened on the day of voting.

The fate of 4,136 candidates, 326 were women and two from third gender were sealed in EVMs, which would open on Saturday - marking the commencing of the complex process of government formation given the fact that there are three big parties in the two alliances led by BJP and Congress. 

The EVMs are being moved to the strong room, where strict vigil would be maintained. 

Leaders of both the alliances claimed that they would get 150-170 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. 

The focus was on  Baramati in Pune district, which was one of the most important constituencies, were seven-time MLA and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who is the NCP president.   is facing in own nephew Yugendra Pawar, who has been fielded by the former’s uncle and NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar.Yugendra's mother, Sharmila Pawar, alleged that one of their party cadres was intimidated by NCP workers. However, the Ajit Pawar-led group dismissed the allegations. 

In Yeola in Nashik district, where senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal is contesting, workers of NCP (SP) blocked his way while he was entering a booth leading to heated exchange of words. 

The most serious issue was reported from neighbouring Nandgaon, where Bhujbal’s nephew Sameer Bhujbal, a former MP, is contesting as an independent candidate against Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Suhas Kande. “tujha murder fix aahe aaj" (your murder is fixed today),” he was captured, which went viral. Kande, however, said the incident was misrepresented.

In another incident, six polling booths were vandalised  in Parli in the Beed district, from where state agriculture minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde is contesting. 

In Beed, an independent candidate Balasaheb Shinde  suffered a massive heart attack at a polling station where he had gone to cast his vote.

In another incident from Satara, a 67-year-old man Shyam Dhaigude died of a cardiac arrest at a polling booth in Morve village.

In a tragic incident from Palghar, a 39-year-old Suman Yadav, serving as an Asha worker in the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation, was killed in a train accident when she was proceeding on polling duties.

The BJP-led Maha Muti alliance is contesting 149 seats under the BJP, 81 under the Shiv Sena, and 59 under the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance has the Congress fielding 101 candidates, the Shiv Sena (UBT) contesting 95, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP putting up 86 candidates.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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