26 April,2024 04:20 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/AFP
In the second phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Friday, eight constituencies in Maharashtra recorded voter turnout of 43.01 percent until 3 pm, according to officials, reported the PTI.
The voting in the central Marathwada region's Hingoli, Nanded, and Parbhani constituencies, as well as the Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) seats of Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha, and Yavatmal-Washim began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm.
Wardha recorded 45.95 percent turnout, Akola 42.69 percent, Amravati 43.76 percent, Buldhana 41.66 percent, Hingoli 40.5 percent, Nanded 42.42 percent, Parbhani 44.49 percent and Yavatmal-Washim 42.55 percent, election officials said, as per the PTI.
Former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who recently switched over from the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), voted along with his family members in the initial hours in Maharashtra's Nanded district.
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As many as 1.49 crore voters (77,21,374 men, 72,04,106 women and 432 persons from third gender category) are eligible to cast ballots across 16,589 polling centres.
There are a total of 204 candidates in the fray -- 21 in Buldhana, 15 in Akola, 37 in Amravati, 24 in Wardha, 17 in Yavatmal-Washim, 33 in Hingoli, 23 in Nanded and 34 in Parbhani.
On April 19, five seats in eastern Vidarbha--Nagpur, Ramtek, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia and Gadchiroli-Chimur went to polls, registering a voter turnout of 63.70 per cent, according to the PTI.
Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim and Hingoli are seeing a direct contest between the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
The undivided Shiv Sena contested the last general elections in the state in alliance with the BJP. It split in 2022 after Shinde led a rebellion, toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and joined hands with the BJP to become the CM.
In Buldhana, sitting Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav is pitted against Narendra Khedekar of Sena (UBT).
The Shiv Sena has nominated Rajashri Patil in Yavatmal-Washim, dropping sitting MP Bhavana Gawli. Patil is pitted against Sanjay Deshmukh of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.
In Hingoli, Rajashtri Patil's husband and sitting MP Hemant Patil was replaced by the Shiv Sena, which gave the ticket to Baburao Kohalikar. The Sena nominee is contesting against Nagesh Patil Ashtikar of Shiv Sena (UBT).
In Parbhani, Mahadev Jankar of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha is contesting against MP Sanjay Jadhav, nominated by the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Mahadev Jankar has been backed by the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Dr B R Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar, who heads the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), has fielded candidates in seven seats, including himself from Akola.
His brother Anandraj Ambedkar is in the fray in Amravati as a Republican Sena nominee.
In Akola, the contest is between Anup Dhotre of BJP and Abhay Patil of Congress, with Prakash Ambedkar as the third candidate.
Amravati is seeing a battle between MP Navneet Rana, now contesting as a BJP nominee, against Balwant Wankhede of Congress. Dinesh Bub is the Prahar Janshakti Party candidate. The Prahar party, which has two legislators in the assembly, is an ally of the ruling coalition.
In Wardha, there is a fight between former Congress MLA Amar Kale, contesting on the symbol of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), a man blowing turha (a traditional trumpet) against BJP MP Ramdas Tadas.
In Nanded, BJP MP Pratap Chikhalikar is pitted against Congress nominee Vasant Chavan.
(with PTI inputs)
