08 April,2024 11:01 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
A model of Electronic Voting Machine outside Election Commission`s office. Representation Pic/PTI
A total of 204 candidates are in the fray for the eight Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra that will go to polls in the second phase of elections. The voting for second phase for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections will be held on April 26.
The constituencies which will go to polls in second phase are Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani. Maharashtra has total 48 Lok Sabha constituencies, the second highest in the country. The Lok Sabha elections will be held in five phases in the state starting from April 19 to June 1.
Monday was the last date for withdrawal of nominations for the second phase of polling. "There were 299 valid nominations. Of these 204 remain in the fray in Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani," the poll officials said in a press statement.
In Parbhani, seven candidates withdrew their nomination forms, leaving 34 contestants in the fray. Ruling alliance candidate Mahadev Jankar, who is also president of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, has been allotted the symbol 'whistle'. Jankar will take on MP Sanjay Jadhav of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Panjabrao Dakh (Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi).
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For Nanded Lok Sabha constituency, candidates are in the fray. "Till April 4, a total of 66 candidates had filed nominations. Of these, 43 have withdrawn their nominations, leaving 23 candidates in the fray in Nanded," an official said.
Nanded is one of the prominent Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra. It is the hometown and political bastion of former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who recently joined the BJP from Congress.
The key candidates in Nanded are: the are sitting BJP MP Pratap Patil Chikhlikar, the Congress' Vasantrao Chavan and Avinash Bhosikar of the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). Notably, Chikhlikar has defeated Ashok Chavan in 2019 general elections.
Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
(With agencies inputs)
