LS polls: 17.51 pc voter turnout in 11 constituencies in Maharashtra till 11 am

Mumbai: A voter turnout of 17.51 per cent was recorded till 11 am on Monday in 11 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra where polling is underway in the fourth phase of the general election, the state electoral office said.

Polling began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm in Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Maval, Pune, Shirur, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, and Beed constituencies, an official said.

As per data shared by the authorities, the tribal-dominated seat of Nandurbar recorded 22.12 per cent voting, while Jalgaon saw 16.89 per cent turnout till 11 am.

Jalna saw 21.35 per cent polling, followed by Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar at 19.53 per cent, Raver at 19.03 per cent, Shirdi at 18.91 per cent, Beed at 16.62 per cent, Pune at 16.16 per cent, Maval 14.87 per cent, Ahmednagar at 14.74 per cent and Shirur at 14.51 per cent, it stated.

Union minister Raosaheb Danve, BJP leader Pankaja Munde and actor-turned-politician Amol Kolhe are among the prominent candidates.

A total of 298 candidates are in the fray, with Beed having the highest number of 41 candidates and Nandurbar the lowest number at 11.

Altogether, 2.28 crore voters are eligible to participate in the fourth phase of the election in the state. They comprise 1.18 crore men, 1.09 crore women, and 1,272 third-gender voters. In the 11 constituencies, there are 23,284 polling centres, 83 of which are deemed critical.

Voting is underway using 53,959 ballot units, 23,284 control units, and 23,284 VVPAT machines, the official said.

The BJP has renominated Union minister Danve from Jalna constituency and Sujay Vikhe Patil in Ahmednagar and fielded former state minister Pankaja Munde from Beed.

Actor Amol Kolhe is the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate from the Shirur Lok Sabha seat in the Pune district. NCP (SP) candidate Bajrang Sonavane, Union Minister Raosaheb Danve, AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel and Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve cast their votes in their constituencies.

It is BJP versus Congress in Jalna and the Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) versus Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Aurangabad.

In Beed, the BJP has fielded former state minister Pankaja Munde instead of sitting MP and her younger sister Pritam Munde. Pankaja’s main rival is Bajrang Sonawane of the NCP (SP).

In Shirur, sitting MP Kolhe of the NCP (SP) is pitted against Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, who is contesting on the NCP ticket.

After Baramati in Pune district, Shirur is another prestige battle for Ajit Pawar, who has publicly stated that he wants to ensure the defeat of Kolhe.

In northern Maharashtra’s Nandurbar (ST-reserved), sitting BJP MP Heena Gavit and Congress’ Gowaal Padvi are locked in a straight contest.

In Ahmednagar in western Maharashtra, BJP’s Sujay Vikhe Patil is taking on Nilesh Lanke of the NCP (SP).

Lanke, the MLA from Parner in Ahmednagar district, sided with Ajit Pawar when the NCP split in July 2023. However, he later returned to the Sharad Pawar camp. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest after 80 in Uttar Pradesh.

Out of the 48 seats, polling culminated in 24 in the first three phases of elections.