Assembly polls: Maharashtra records 60.46% voting, Haryana sees 65% turnout

Maharashtra Assembly elections held on Monday saw a voter turnout of 60.46 per cent till the closing hour of 6 pm, election officials said.

The highest turn-out was reported in Karveer constituency in Kolhapur, at 83.20 per cent. The lowest turnout was recorded in south Mumbai's upmarket Colaba area at 40.20 per cent.

The opposition Congress said it filed over 250 complaints of poll procedure violations with the Election Commission, including one for Ramtek segment where it said if the EVM button was pressed in favour of Congress candidate, the vote was shown to be going to the BJP candidate.

Total of 361 complaints of EVM malfunctioning were filed, including 152 by the Congress and 89 by the Shiv Sena.

Polling began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm. By 6 pm, 60.46 per cent of voters had exercised franchise, said the state's Chief Electoral Officer Baldev Singh.

Rural areas of the state fared better, with voters there showing more enthusiasm than their urban counterparts.

Prominent voters included RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, CM Devendra Fadnavis, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, former President Pratibha Patil and MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

From Shah Rukh Khan to Salman Khan, from Kareena Kapoor Khan to Deepika Padukone, Mumbai's polling booths witnessed several Bollywood celebrities who came out to vote.

Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit Nene and Lara Dutta were among the tinsel town figures who exercised their franchise.

Actor Riteish Deshmukh and wife Genelia cast their vote in Latur district, where Amit and Dheeraj, brothers of Ritesh and sons of former CM late Vilasrao Deshmukh, are contesting as Congress candidates.

Haryana:

Haryana recorded a voter turnout of 65 per cent in the Assembly polls, a sharp drop from the 2014 elections which brought the BJP to power in the state.

Seven people were hurt in stone-pelting between two groups in a Nuh village and there were “minor incidents” in Rohtak, Narnaul and Bahadurgah districts, police said. But they maintained that polling over the 90 assembly constituencies was largely peaceful.

Currently, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 48 members in the state Assembly and the Congress 17.

Prominent figures in a field of 1,169 contestants include Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, former Congress CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala and Indian National Lok Dal's Abhay Singh Chautala.

Haryana ministers including Ram Bilas Sharma, Anil Vij, Capt Abhimanyu, O P Dhankar and Kavita Jain are also in fray for the BJP.

Congress bigwigs in the contest include Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kiran Choudhary, Ranbir Mahendra and Kuldeep Bishnoi. The BJP also fielded TikTok star Sonali Phogat and three sportspersons -- Babita Phogat, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sandeep Singh.

There were reports of minor fights taking place between the supporters of the BJP and the Congress in Rohtak and Bahadurgarh districts.

The INLD-Shiromani Akali Dal combine, Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Loktantra Suraksha Party and Swaraj India also contested, though none of them fought all 90 seats.