Maharashtra Bypolls: 59.11% voter turnout recorded across 288 constituencies

Maharashtra’s assembly elections began at 7 am today, with voting underway across all 288 constituencies in a single phase. The state has a voter base of 9.6 crore, including 20.9 lakh first-time voters aged 18-19 and 1.8 crore voters in the 20-29 age group. The elections will decide the fate of key alliances: the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which includes Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Ajit Pawar’s faction of the NCP, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), consisting of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

Major candidates in this high-stakes election include Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena (Shinde) contesting from Kopri-Pachpakhadi, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of BJP from Nagpur South-West, and Aaditya Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT) from Worli. Other notable figures include Nana Patole of Congress from Sakoli, Ajit Pawar of NCP (AP) from Baramati, and Milind Deora of Shiv Sena (Shinde) from Worli, among others.

This election follows significant shifts in Maharashtra’s political landscape, marked by splits within the Shiv Sena and NCP. Uddhav Thackeray’s faction broke away from the BJP and aligned with Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, while Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction joined the Mahayuti alliance.

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• 7:37 pm: 59.16% voter turnout recorded in Maharashtra. Gadchiroli sees the highest voting with a 69.63% turnout while Mumbai City is at the bottom with 49.80% polling.

• 5:41 pm: 58.22% voter turnout recorded till 5:00 pm in Maharashtra. Gadchiroli sees the highest voting with a 69.63% turnout while Mumbai City is at the bottom with 49.07% polling.

• 4:34 pm: Special IGP Nashik, Dattatray Karale, addressed the altercation between Shiv Sena candidate Suhas Kande and independent candidate Sameer Bhujbal in Nandgaon, saying, "There was a misunderstanding near a college on Manmad-Nandgaon road, where it was believed that outsiders were brought in to vote. We are verifying the facts and will take action accordingly. The situation is normal, and the election process is continuing."

• 4:17 pm: BJP candidate from Chinchwad, Shankar Jagtap, urged voters to participate, stating, "I appeal to all the voters to exercise their right to vote. Everyone should come forward to vote for a progressive Maharashtra and Viksit Bharat. The people are enthusiastic as the work of the Mahayuti government has benefitted them."

• 4:08 pm: NCP-SCP candidate from Bhosari, Ajit Gavhane, expressed confidence in change, stating, "A large number of people have come here to cast their vote. A transformation will be witnessed by the Bhosari Vidhan Sabha seat as the people are angry due to the work done in the last 10 years. Hence, they have made up their mind for a change."

• 3:31 pm: 45.53% voter turnout recorded till 3:00 pm in Maharashtra. Gadchiroli sees the highest voting with a 62.99% turnout while Thane is at the bottom with 38.94% polling.

• 3:19 pm: Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar said, "As you can see that Mumbaikars are voting for Legislative assembly elections, large bandobast has been deployed. Mumbaikars are voting peacefully. Everything is going smoothly."

• 2:57 pm: Singer Rahul Vaidya and his wife, actor Disha Parmar, said, "... It is everyone's responsibility to vote. It is not a vacation day... It's a matter of a few minutes. This day comes once every five years. Please exercise your right..."

• 2:11 pm: Vrushali Shrikant Shinde, daughter-in-law of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and wife of Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, said, "The atmosphere is good, people are coming out of their homes to vote. Everyone should vote.

• 1:34 pm: 32.18% voter turnout recorded till 1:00 pm in Maharashtra. Gadchiroli sees the highest voting with a 50.89% turnout while Mumbai city is at the bottom with 27.73% polling.

• 1:29 pm: Actor and BJP MP Hema Malini, along with her daughter Esha Deol, cast their vote for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections in Mumbai. Director Rakesh Roshan also voted at a polling booth in the city. Hema Malini urged voters, saying, "I request everyone in the area to come and vote. It is your duty for the future of the country... The facilities at the booth are very good.

• 1:21 pm: NCP leader Praful Patel confidently stated, "We are going to get around 175 seats. We will have a clear majority and we are coming back to power.

• 1:17 pm: Actors Rakul Preet Singh and Jackky Bhagnani urged citizens to vote, saying, "Please vote. It is very important... We cannot sit and complain if we do not vote. As citizens, this is our responsibility." They also appreciated the voting center, noting, "The facilities at this voting centre are very good and quick.

• 12:42 pm: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed the BJP over the alleged involvement of NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole in a bitcoin scam. She said, "The sheer desperation of the BJP has been made obvious since yesterday morning, where Vinod Tawde, a senior BJP leader, has been caught distributing money to the people of Maharashtra in the hope of buying this election. They know they're headed towards a disastrous election outcome. That is why they're resorting to cheap measures like putting out a fake audio clip of Supriya Sule and Nana Patole. Those who know her will tell you neither the words nor the accent are hers. It's clearly a cheap fake AI attempt to mislead voters. But the voters of Maharashtra are clear; they are voting for Maha Vikas Aghadi and will give us a full mandate.

• 12:36 pm: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde expressed confidence in a Maha Yuti victory, stating, "People have seen their 2.5 years of rule and our 2.5 years of development." He emphasized that the Mahayuti alliance's focus on development will lead to a clear win.

• 12:34 pm: Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab accused Neelam Gorhe of luring voters with gifts, stating, "She gave coupons to people, told them to vote, and promised gifts the next day. The gifts have been confiscated today. Luring voters like this is wrong. Neelam Gorhe should be suspended and removed from her post. The Governor should take action, and the police should file a case." On the checking of Uddhav Thackeray's helicopter, he added, "This is being done deliberately. We have no objections if our helicopter is being checked, but everyone's checking should be done, just like ours."

• 12:32 pm: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale emphasized the need for higher voter turnout, stating, "The atmosphere is good but voting percentage is low. It should be increased and people should vote. A law should be made to make voting compulsory... Mahayuti will get 165-170 seats, we will get a clear majority and our government will be formed."

• 12:28 pm: Actor Anupam Kher praised the election process, saying, "Everything is very well organised... The officials are very nice to everyone... There is no bigger celebration in an independent country than elections... The common man keeps in mind his daily needs before he casts his vote... If someone does not vote today, they have the right to raise complaints over the next five years... Voting is cool. Be cool.

• 12:23 pm: BJP MP Narayan Rane expressed his views, stating, "I am whatever I am because of Balasaheb Thackeray. I left Shiv Sena because of Uddhav Thackeray. His thoughts are not good. They are not going to get more than 10-12 seats. 161 MLAs of Mahayuti are going to win, and then the alliance of BJP, NCP, and Shiv Sena will come to power... Whatever happened with Vinod Tawde was not right. He is a senior leader, this should not have happened."

• 12:21 pm: Congress leader and Advocate Ravi Prakash Jadhav addressed the alleged involvement of NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole in a bitcoin scam, stating, "Yesterday, a doctored video of Amitabh Gupta (Former Pune Police Commissioner), Supriya Sule, and Nana Patole, created with the help of AI, went viral on social media. BJP leaders shared it with various TV channels, which got telecast live. This is a fake video ahead of elections, aimed to mislead voters for political gain. The accused should be punished as per the BNS and relevant sections of cybercrime.

• 12:18 pm: In Amravati, BJP leader Navneet Rana, wife of independent candidate Ravi Rana from Badnera Assembly seat, said, "He (Ravi Rana) has been representing the Badnera assembly for the last 15 years. I am confident that looking at his work and nature, the people of Badnera will elect him for the fourth time...The Chief Minister in the Mahayuti government will be from BJP and on November 26, everyone will see it.

• 12:14 pm: BJP leader Pankaja Munde stated, "I am a leader of the (BJP) Maharashtra Core Committee. I have tried to visit and attend as many public gatherings as possible, but I was only able to attend 40% public meetings due to time constraints. BJP and Mahayuti are going to win majority and form government comfortably.

• 12:11 pm: In Amravati, family members of Ravi Rana, an independent candidate from the Badnera Assembly seat, applied a tilak on his forehead and performed aarti ahead of casting their votes for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024.

• 12:08 pm: Bahujan Vikas Aghadi leader Hitendra Thakur accused BJP of distributing money ahead of the Assembly polls, stating, "Why did Vinod Tawde book the entire hotel and why were all the rooms booked by his people?...Yesterday, he was sitting here and requesting to take him out and today when he reached Mumbai, he said that the hotel is owned by Hitendra Thakur. It is policy to lie without fear...I have trust in people, we don't fight elections on money...It is our guarantee that voting will take place peacefully.

• 11:58 am: Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde highlighted the role of women in the Maharashtra Elections, stating, "Today women will play an important role in strengthening democracy. Just as the government stood up to empower women and supported them, women will also stand with the government in the same way. In 2019, people gave a clear mandate to Mahayuti, but in the greed for power, some people formed Maha Vikas Aghadi, but in this election, people will show them their place and vote for development..."

• 11:54 am: Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde addressed the allegations of money distribution against BJP leader Vinod Tawde, stating, "The opposition tries to create such controversies at the time of elections. He (Vinod Tawde) had gone there to take a meeting of leaders. Such fake narrative will have no impact on the people and people will vote for development. People will vote by looking at the development work done by Mahayuti in the last 2.5 years.

• 11:46 am: After casting his vote, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde called today "the festival of democracy" and urged everyone to vote, emphasizing it would strengthen Maharashtra and democracy. He added, "People have not forgotten what happened in 2019, the mandate was for Mahayuti but Mahayuti could not form the government. People have seen their (Maha Vikas Aghadi) 2.5 years of rule and have also seen our 2.5 years of rule. We started the development that they had stopped. We started many schemes including Ladli Behna... Mahayuti will form the government with a huge majority.

• 11:34 am: 18.14% voter turnout recorded till 11:00 am in Maharashtra. Gadchiroli sees the highest voting with a 30% turnout while Nanded is at the bottom with 13.67% polling.

• 11:24 am: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and his family voted at a polling booth in Neelam Nagar, Mulund, for Maharashtra Elections 2024. He remarked, "People are coming out to vote with great enthusiasm. Hum ek hain toh safe hain.

• 11:02 am: The ruling Mahayuti alliance has announced candidates across key constituencies:

BJP: 149 candidates, including Devendra Fadnavis (Nagpur South West) and Ashish Shelar (Bandra West).

Shinde Sena: 81 candidates, including Eknath Shinde (Kopri-Pachpakhadi) and Milind Deora (Worli).

NCP (Ajit Pawar): 59 candidates, including Ajit Pawar (Baramati), Zeeshan Siddique (Bandra East), and Chhagan Bhujbal (Yevla).

• 10:20 am: Musician Vishal Dadlani urged citizens to vote, saying, "I appeal to you please come and vote. It is ridiculous that we have to appeal to come and cast your votes. This is your state, your country, if there is love for the country then please come and cast your votes. Rural Maharashtra is charged up to vote...

• 10:17 am: Union Minister Piyush Goyal cast his vote at a polling station in Mumbai.

• 9:43 am: 6.61% voter turnout recorded till 9:00 am in Maharashtra. Gadchiroli sees the highest voting with a 12.33% turnout while Osmanabad is at the bottom with 4.85% polling.

• 9:19 am: NCP-SP's Supriya Sule cast her vote for the Maharashtra Assembly polls in Baramati. Speaking to the media about allegations against her and Nana Patole, she said, "I have filed a defamation case and a criminal case. I am ready to answer his (Sudhanshu Trivedi) 5 questions wherever he wants. Time of his choice, place of his choice and platform of his choice. I am ready to answer him because all the allegations are completely false.

• 8:19 am: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, accompanied by his wife and daughter, cast their votes at a polling station in Mumbai.

• 8:04 am: Actor Akshay Kumar showed his inked finger after casting his vote in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. He praised the arrangements, saying, "The arrangements here are very good as I can see that arrangements for senior citizens are very good and cleanliness has been maintained. I want everyone to come out and cast their votes.

• 7:58 am: Acharya Pramod Krishnam urged voters in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh to vote in the Assembly elections and by-elections. He said, "I appeal to the voters of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh to come out of their house and cast votes for the bright future of the country, identity of the country.

• 7:41 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Maharashtra voters to actively participate in the ongoing assembly elections, emphasizing the democratic process as a festival. In a message on X, he said, "I urge all voters to participate enthusiastically and add beauty to this festival of democracy." He specifically encouraged youth and women to vote in large numbers.

• 7:24 am: After casting his vote for the assembly elections, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP candidate from the Baramati constituency, Ajit Pawar, expressed confidence in the Mahayuti alliance forming the government. Pawar affirmed, "Mahayuti is going to form the government here,"

• 7:16 am: RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat emphasized the importance of voting after casting his vote for the assembly elections. He stated, "In a democracy, voting is a citizen's duty. Every citizen should perform this duty." Bhagwat also shared that he traveled from Uttaranchal the previous night to ensure he could cast his vote.