32% voter turnout recorded in Maharashtra till 1 pm; only 24% in Colaba

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.