Mumbai: Polling began Monday morning for 13 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, including six in Mumbai, in the fifth and last phase of general elections in the state, an official said. Voting began at 7 am in 24,553 polling centres and will end at 6 pm, the official said. Altogether 2.46 crore persons are eligible to cast vote to 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 , Bharati Pawar and Kapil Patil are among the key nominees of the BJP, which has also fielded lawyer Ujjwal Nikam. Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad are also in the fray. The main contest is between the ruling Mahayuti comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP).
Mumbai, Thane and Palghar where 10 of the 13 seats are located are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, one of the most urbanized 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 CM Uddhav Thackeray has put up candidates in Mumbai South, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North East and Mumbai North West as part of the MVA seat-sharing deal. 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 Shinde as they fall under his political turf. His son Shrikant Shinde and close aide Naresh Mhaske are the Shiv Sena nominees in Kalyan and Thane.
The contest is between BJP and Shiv 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 the two Senas are facing off in Nashik.
The Mumbai police have deployed around 30,000 personnel to ensure smooth voting in the city, an official said. They include 2,752 officers and 27,460 other personnel, including from three units of the riot control police. Of the 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.
In the last four phases, the average voter turnout was 62.9 per cent, an election official said. In 2019 elections, the average for these constituencies was 62.5 per cent, he added.
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