Despite a slight improvement in voter turnout by 11 AM compared to the early hours, crucial constituencies with expected tough contests continue to witness low participation in the fourth phase of Maharashtra elections. The state has recorded a 17.51% voter turnout by 11 AM.
Nandurbar has witnessed the highest turnout so far, with 22.12% of votes cast. Here, incumbent BJP MP Heena Gavit is facing a challenge from Congress's Gowaal Padavi. However, key seats like Shirur and Ahmednagar have shown dismal turnout, recording 14.51% and 14.74% respectively by 11 AM.
In Shirur, actor Amol Kolhe of Sharad Pawar's NCP is seeking re-election, competing against NCP's Shivaji Adhalrao Patil. Meanwhile, in Ahmednagar, NCP (SCP)'s Nilesh Lanke is challenging BJP's incumbent MP Sujay Vikhe Patil.
Constituency-wise Turnout by 11 AM:
- Jalgaon: 16.89%- Jalna: 21.35%- Nandurbar: 22.12%- Shirur: 14.51%- Ahmednagar: 14.74%- Aurangabad: 19.53%- Beed: 16.62%- Maval: 14.87%- Pune: 16.16%- Raver: 19.03%- Shirdi: 18.91%
A total of 298 candidates are contesting, with Beed having the highest number of candidates at 41, and Nandurbar having the lowest at 11.
There are 2.28 crore eligible voters in the fourth phase, comprising 1.18 crore men, 1.09 crore women, and 1,272 third-gender voters. Across the 11 constituencies, there are 23,284 polling centers, 83 of which are deemed critical.
Voting is underway using 53,959 ballot units, 23,284 control units, and 23,284 VVPAT machines.
Key candidates include Union Minister Danve in Jalna, Sujay Vikhe Patil in Ahmednagar, and Pankaja Munde in Beed, all representing the BJP. Actor Amol Kolhe is contesting for NCP in Shirur.
In Marathwada, Jalna sees a BJP-Congress contest, while Aurangabad witnesses Shiv Sena (UBT) versus Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde). In Beed, Pankaja Munde replaces her sister Pritam Munde as the BJP candidate, facing Bajrang Sonawane of NCP (SP).
Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, with 24 seats having completed voting in the first three phases.