The fate of four thousand, one hundred and thirty-six (4,136) candidates contesting for the 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly is now safely sealed in EVMs.
Despite an increased number of polling booths and providing excellent facilities all across, the voter apathy in urban areas remained a sore point. Even Bollywood celebrities and industrialists who came out to vote in large numbers were unable to influence voters to come out and vote.
Barring a few incidents of clashes among party workers in some districts, polling was by and large peaceful across the state. Despite vandalism at a polling booth in Parli and reports of EVM malfunctioning in some polling booths in Beed, Dharashiv, and Nandurbar districts, the administration and the election commission were quick to respond and ensure that voters could exercise their franchise in a free and fair manner.
Meanwhile, peaceful polling was also conducted today for the Nanded parliamentary constituency. The seat, having 19 candidates, recorded 53.78 percent voting when reports last came in. The poll was necessitated due to the demise of Congress leader Vasantrao Chavan, who had won the Nanded seat earlier this year.
Maharashtra’s political scenario has witnessed a dramatic change since the split in the Shiv Sena in June 2022 and the Nationalist Congress Party a year later. The elections this time were a major contest between the ruling alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP and the opposition alliance of Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), with each faction trying its best to not only retain their traditional voter base but also gain new voters.
In the 2019 assembly polls, the BJP had won 105 seats while the Shiv Sena had won 56 seats. The opposition congress had claimed 44 while the NCP had grabbed 54. The result of today’s polls will be declared on November 23rd.
