Mumbai | A voter turnout of 32.18 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Wednesday in Maharashtra, where polling is underway in all 288 assembly constituencies, election officials said.
Polling began at 7 am in the state assembly elections, where the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is vying to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine is hoping for a strong comeback. Voting will continue till 6 pm.
There are a total of 1,00,186 polling booths in Maharashtra this time, compared to 96,654 booths in the 2019 assembly elections, the officials said.
Gadchiroli district recorded 50.89 per cent voter turnout. The Aheri assembly seat in the district saw 52.84 per cent voting, while Armori registered 51.05 per cent polling.
Mumbai city district recorded 27.73 per cent voting and Mumbai suburban district saw 30.43 per cent turnout.
The Colaba assembly segment in the megapolis registered 24.16 per cent polling, Mahim 33.01 per cent and Worli 26.96 per cent. Shivadi recorded 30.5 per cent polling, while Malabar Hill recorded 33.24 per cent voting.
In Mumbai suburban, Bhandup polled 38.75 per cent votes, Dahisar 35.60 per cent and Bandra East 25.03 per cent.
In Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency in Thane, the voter turnout was 32.21 per cent till 1 pm.
The Nagpur South-West constituency, from where Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is in the fray, the voter turnout was 31.12 per cent till 11 am, the officials said.
In Baramati in Pune district, from where Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar is fighting against his nephew Yugendra Pawar, the poll percentage was 33.78 per cent, they added.
Nashik district recorded 31.16 per cent voting.
Over 9.7 crore voters will be choosing from among the 4,136 candidates in the fray, officials said.
In the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena is in the fray in 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituencies.
In the opposition's MVA combine, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) has put up 86 candidates.
Smaller parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), are also contesting, with BSP fielding 237 candidates and AIMIM 17 in the 288-member Lower House
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were among the early voters to exercise their franchise as polling was underway on Wednesday for the state assembly elections.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra Pawar cast their vote at Katewadi in Baramati area of Pune district.
The deputy CM is pitted against his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar in the Baramati assembly seat.
Yugendra Pawar also cast his vote along with his parents in Baramati.
Ajit Pawar said, "I am confident that the people of Baramati will stand behind me and I will win the seat with a big lead." The BJP, an ally of Ajit Pawar's NCP, on Tuesday played purported voice notes of Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule to allege attempts to encash Bitcoins to influence the state elections, claiming it poses a serious question on the conduct of polls in a free and fair manner.
Asked about it, Ajit Pawar said an investigation should be done to verify the truth in the allegations.
"I was watching the news. I have known Patole for many years. He was the speaker and MLA and I can recognise his voice. Still I cannot correctly say about the voice as there are people who can imitate others' voice," he said.
"But as far as the voice in the present audio notes is concerned, it is Supriya Sule and Nana Patole's voice," the deputy CM further said, adding there will be an inquiry and truth will be known.
Bhagwat exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Nagpur's Mahal area soon after the voting began at 7 am.
Speaking to reporters after casting his vote, the RSS chief said in a democracy, voting is the responsibility of every citizen and appealed to the electors to vote on issues and ensure 100 per cent turnout.
"Whenever there is election, I first cast my vote early in the day and then do other works," he said.
Bhagwat said he was in Uttaranchal (Uttarakhand), but cut short his programme and came to Nagpur on Tuesday to vote. "I will leave today," he added.
"Voting is a duty which the electors should perform," he said.
In Mumbai, city BJP chief Ashish Shelar and former Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik was among the early voters.
Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan cast his vote at the Raj Bhavan club polling centre in Mumbai.
Congress leader Amit Deshmukh voted in Latur.
Many voters queued up at the polling booths in several constituencies of Mumbai since 6.30 am.
