Mumbai (Maharashtra): Polling in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, including six in Mumbai, will be held on Monday in the fifth and last phase of general elections in the state. More than 2.46 crore persons are eligible to cast vote and decide the fate of 264 candidates in Mumbai North, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai South, Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Palghar, Nashik, Dindori and Dhule seats.
Union Ministers Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Bharati Pawar (Dindori) and Kapil Patil (Bhiwandi) are among the key nominees of the BJP, which has also fielded lawyer Ujjwal Nikam (Mumbai North Central). Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan) and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad (Mumbai North Central) are also in the fray.
Voting will be conducted from 7 am to 6 pm in 24,553 polling centres. The main contest is between the ruling Mahayuti comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and Nationalist Congress Party, and the opposition alliance of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
Mumbai, Thane and Palghar where 10 of these 13 seats are located form a major part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, one of the most urbanised pockets in the country. Altogether, 2,46,69,544 persons are eligible to cast vote, including 1,31,38,526 men, 1,15,28,278 women and 2,740 from the third gender.
The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has fielded its candidates in Mumbai South, Mumbai North West, and Mumbai South Central seats, while the ruling BJP has put up candidates in Mumbai North, Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North East constituencies. The opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has put up candidates in Mumbai South, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North East and Mumbai North West as part of the seat-sharing deal with its Maha Vikas Aghadi partners NCP (SP) and Congress.
Congress candidates are in the fray in Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North in the metropolis. Thane and Kalyan, where the rival Senas are pitted against each other, are prestige battles for Chief Minister Shinde as they fall under his political turf.
Chief Minister Shinde's close aide Naresh Mhaske and his son Shrikant Shinde are the Shiv Sena nominees in Thane and Kalyan, respectively. The contest is between BJP and Sena (UBT) in Palghar, while BJP and NCP (SP) are the main contenders in the textile manufacturing hub of Bhiwandi.
Dhule is witnessing a BJP versus Congress fight. In Dindori, it is BJP versus Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), while CM Shinde's Shiv Sena and Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) are facing off in Nashik. The Mumbai police will press into service nearly 30,000 security personnel to ensure smooth voting in the city, officials earlier said. At least 2,752 officers and 27,460 other personnel, including from three units of the riot control police, will be on bandobast duty on the election day in the metropolis, they said.
Five officers in the rank of Additional Commissioner of Police, 25 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) and 77 Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs) will be leading various teams during the bandobast, an official said. Nearly 5,000 policemen, 6,200 home guards and 36 units of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) will also be brought from outside for the voting day, he said. Out of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, polling in 35 seats was held in four phases on April 19, April 26, May 7 and May 13. Votes will be counted on June 4.
