Voting to the 288 seats in Maharashtra Assembly began on Wednesday at 7 am, a high-stakes election that will see the ruling Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP take on the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine.
As many as 4,132 candidates are in the fray. In Mahayuti, the BJP has the highest number of candidates at 149, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) has candidates in 81 seats while 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.
Other parties in the fray include Bahujan Samaj Party which fielded 237 candidates and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has 17 candidates.
Both Mahayuti and MVA alliances ran a mammoth campaign ahead of the campaign, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah leading the campaigning for the former. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Sharad Pawar crisscrossed the state meeting voters for the MVA, as the Opposition hopes to repeat their performance in the Lok Sabha elections to bounce back to power.
Early voters
Among those who cast their votes early were Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, a candidate from Baramati Assembly constituency and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Ajit Pawar faces his nephew Yugendra Pawar, a political debutant, in the constituency. Yugendra is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother. However, Ajit expressed optimism about his win after casting his vote.
#WATCH | On allegations against Supriya Sule and Nana Patole, Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP candidate from Baramati Assembly constituency, Ajit Pawar says "Whatever audio clip is being shown, I just know that I have worked with both of them. One of them is my sister and the other… pic.twitter.com/wgoEJrAFya
— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2024
"Even during Lok Sabha elections, members of our family contested against each other. I have tried to meet every voter in Baramati and am hopeful that the people will make me victorious. I am sure that the voters will think about the numerous allegations against the MVA," Ajit told voters.
NCP (SCP) MP Supriya Sule was also one of the early voters.
While Mohan Bhagwat cast his vote at a polling station in Nagpur, Governor C P Radhakrishnan was seen exercising his franchise at the polling booth at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, under the Colaba Assembly Constituency. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was also seen arriving at the polling booth
Actor Rajkummar Rao and director Kabir Khan were also among those who arrived at the booth before 8 am to cast their votes. "It is very important (to vote). Everyone, please step out and vote," Rao said.