Voting for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra has begins with elaborate security arrangements in place, continuing until 6 pm. A total of 4,136 candidates are vying for positions in this election, which has shaped up to be a largely two-sided contest.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance, led by the BJP and joined by the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, faces off against the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP led by Sharad Pawar, and the Congress party.
Of the 288 assembly seats, 234 are in the general category, while 29 are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 25 for Scheduled Tribes (ST). Voting will take place across 1,00,186 polling stations in 52,789 locations in Maharashtra, with 42,604 urban and 57,582 rural booths, including 299 managed by Persons with Disabilities (PwD). According to the latest voter list, there are around 9.7 crore eligible voters, comprising 4.97 crore men and 4.66 crore women. The electorate includes 1.85 crore young voters (aged 18-29), of which 20.93 lakh are first-time voters (aged 18-19).
2019 Assembly Elections: Key HighlightsIn the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, voter turnout reached 61.4%. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising the BJP and Shiv Sena (SHS), secured a majority. However, disagreements over government formation led to the alliance’s dissolution, sparking a political crisis.
Over the past five years, Maharashtra has seen three different chief ministers: BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav Thackeray, and Shiv Sena (SHS)'s Eknath Shinde.