Maharashtra Assembly elections: Events through the day

Floricity

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posted on 10 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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For the first time, former allies Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena will face off in a bid to win 288 Assembly seats in the state.

Mumbai: 9.30 pm: Approximate 64 pc turn out recorded in Maharashtra assembly elections. Mumbai (City) : 54.1 per cent; Mumbai (Suburbs): 52 per cent; Mumbai (combined): 53.05 per cent.

6.52 pm: Election Commission says Maharashtra voter turnout at 54.5 per cent till 5 pm, likely to exceed 62 per cent.

6:00 pm: 55 per cent voter turnout recorded till 5.30 pm. Mumbai: Over 47 per cent; Gondia: 65 per cent; Yavatmal: 52 per cent; Dhule: 51 per cent; Nanded: 58 per cent; Hingoli: 61 per cent; Sangli: 66 per cent.

4.17 pm: 45 per cent polling recorded till 3 pm.

4:00 pm: Maharashtra Assembly elections: 36 per cent polling in Mumbai till 3 pm.

3:00 pm: Bollywood music composer Vishal Dadlani appeals to voters to go out and vote. He said, "Voting is our responsibility towards the nations."

2:08 pm: Maharashtra Assembly elections: 33 per cent voting till 1 pm, just 27 per cent in Mumbai.

11:47 am: The polling percentage in Maharashtra is still slow at 17 per cent till 11 am. In Mumbai, it is 15.5 per cent.

9:52 am: Voting has picked up across Maharashtra. The turnout till 9 am: Satara 7 percent, Beed 9 per cent, Wardha 6 per cent, Aurangabad 10 per cent, Nanded 11 per cent, Hingoli 7 per cent, Akola per cent, Sangali 9 per cent, Solapur 8 per cent, Nagpur 6 per cent, Pune 8.02 per cent.

Voting has begun in Maharashtra for the Assembly elections. This is being pegged as the biggest electoral battle the state has ever seen.

For the first time, former allies Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena will face off in a bid to win 288 Assembly seats in the state. Their 25-year-old alliance ended in September over seat sharing differences.

The BJP is hoping to ride on the Modi wave to win elections in a state where it has so far relied upon the Sena's local presence.

Also in the fray are old friends turned foes - the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress - who face massive anti-incumbency and are pitted against one another after they ended their 15-year-old alliance.

Since the BJP decided not to project anybody as its chief ministerial candidate, Modi himself led the campaign. He addressed over 20 public meetings across the state in less than 15 days. Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed just four rallies and its Vice President Rahul Gandhi just six rallies in the state.

The Shiv Sena campaign was led by its chief Uddhav Thackeray and the NCP campaign by its supremo Sharad Pawar. The MNS chief Raj Thackeray also addressed several public meetings across the state.

Riding on the massive mandate he got in the Lok Sabha elections just five months ago, PM Modi unleashed a poll blitzkrieg addressing over 20 rallies in the state where he took on the Congress, NCP and indirectly the Shiv Sena over dynastic politics and corruption. With no local face after the death of its mass leader Gopinath Munde, the BJP is heavily relying on Modi for a victory in Wednesday's polling.

Modi cleverly avoided any direct criticism of the Shiv Sena and heavily attacked both the Congress and NCP, saying they were highly corrupt and had looted the state for the last 15 years.

The Congress has projected Prithviraj Chavan and the NCP has projected Ajit Pawar as their chief ministerial candidates. Breaking away from the convention, the Shiv Sena has projected Uddhav Thackeray for the top post.

It is being seen as the first key test of popularity for major political parties after the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP left nothing to chance with Modi leading the campaign. The counting of votes will be held on October 19 (Sunday).

Of the total 288 Assembly seats in the state, the BJP is contesting 257 seats and its smaller allies are contesting in the remaining 31 seats. The Congress and NCP are contesting on all the 288 seats.

The last time Shiv Sena and BJP fought separately was before 1989 - the year their alliance was sealed and for the Congress and NCP, it was before 1999 the year the Sharad Pawar-led party was formed.

The main issues in the current election are Marathi identity, Hindutva, corruption and development. In the 2009 polls, Congress won 82 seats; the NCP won 62 seats, Shiv Sena won 45 and the BJP won 47 seats and the MNS won 12 seats. Ashok Chavan of the Congress was re-elected as the chief minister.

The Congress is banking on the development and Prithviraj Chavan's 'clean image'. The Shiv Sena is projecting itself as one with a "real identity" of Maharashtra. The BJP is promising change and corruption free government.

The Shiv Sena has raked up the Gujaratis versus Maharashtrians issue to take on the BJP. The Shiv Sena and the MNS are alleging that the BJP is trying to divide Maharashtra. The BJP is supporting the statehood for Vidarbha region. Shiv Sena which has a strong presence there is advocating a united state.

Both the Congress and the NCP have decide to 'wait-and-watch' on the separate state issue.

Maharashtra has six major regions - Mumbai region, Konkan, Western Maharashtra, Kandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada. The BJP is trying to break the monopoly of Congress and NCP in Western Maharashtra and Marathwada regions. It is also taking on the dominance of Shiv Sena-MNS in Mumbai region, Kandesh and Vidarbha.

According to insiders state BJP President Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be the chief minister, if the BJP manages to come to power. Even the Union Transport minister Nitin Gadkari may emerge as a dark horse if his party manages to come to power.

In case of a hung assembly, the BJP can seek the support of the Shiv Sena or NCP. The party can also get MNS's backing. If the Congress manages to emerge as the single largest party, it can once again seek the support of the NCP.

Key contests/ contestants

Karad South - Prithviraj Chavan of Congress versus Atul Bhosle of BJP versus Independent candidate Vilaskaka Undalkar

Nagpur South West - Devendra Fadnavis of BJP versus Praful Gudadhe Patil of Congress

Tasgaon in Sangli district - RR Patil of NCP versus Ajit Ghorpade of BJP

Baramati - Ajit Pawar of NCP versus Balasaheb Alis Prabhakar Dadaram Gawade of BJP

Kudal - Narayan Rane of Congress versus Vaibhav Naik of Shiv Sena versus Pushpasen Sawant of NCP

Andheri East - Suresh Shetty of Congress

Dharavi - Varsha Gaikwad of Congress

Kalina - Kripashankar Singh of Congress

Bandra West - Baba Siddique of Congress

Mumbra-Kalwa - Jitendra Awhad of NCP

Borivali - Vinod Tawde of BJP