Maharashtra elections 2024: 6.61 per cent voter turnout till 9 am

Maharashtra recorded 661 per cent voter turnout till 9 am on Wednesday as the polling for Maharashtra elections 2024 was underway in all 288 assembly constituencies of the state as per election officialsGadchiroli district witnessed 1233 per cent turnout in the first two hours of polling The Armori assembly segment in the district registered 1353 per cent pollingIn Mumbai suburban 788 per cent turnout was recorded Bhandup and Mulund suburbs saw 1059 per cent and 1071 per cent turnoutMumbai city recorded 625 per cent pollingWhile Colaba saw 535 per cent turnout Worli recorded 378 per cent polling according to the election officialsPolling began Wednesday morning in the Maharashtra assembly elections where the ruling BJPled Mahayuti alliance is vying to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA combine is hoping for a strong comebackVoting began in all the 288 assembly seats at 7 am and will end at 6 pm an election official said The votes will be counted on November 23Over 97 crore voters will be choosing from among the 4136 candidates in the fray the official saidIn the Mahayuti alliance the BJP is contesting 149 seats Shiv Sena is in the fray in 81 seats and the Ajit Pawarled NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituenciesIn the oppositions MVA combine the Congress has fielded 101 candidates Shiv Sena UBT 95 and NCP SP has put up 86 candidatesSmaller parties including the Bahujan Samaj Party and the All India MajliseIttehadulMuslimeen AIMIM are also contesting with BSP fielding 237 candidates and AIMIM 17 in the 288member Lower HouseThe number of candidates this time has increased by 28 per cent compared to the 2019 state assembly elections This year 4136 candidates are contesting up from 3239 in 2019Among these candidates 2086 are independents Rebels are in the fray in over 150 constituencies with candidates from the Mahayuti and MVA contesting against their partys official nomineesAs on October 30 the updated number of registered voters stands at 97025119 officials saidAmong these there are 50022739 male voters 46996279 female voters and 6101 transgender voters Additionally the total number of PwD Persons with Disabilities voters is 641425 while the number of service voters from the armed forces is 116170There will be 100186 polling booths in Maharashtra this time compared to 96654 booths in the 2019 assembly elections This increase is due to the rise in the number of votersAround six lakh state government employees will be involved in election dutiesSince the code of conduct came into force on October 15 cash and items worth Rs 25242 crore were seized in enforcement actions conducted under various schemes of the central and state governmentsThe seized items included Rs 6347 crore cash along with 3489088 litres of liquor valued at Rs 3373 croreAdditionally Rs 3267 crore drugs were confiscated along with precious metals valued at Rs 8312 croreOfficials also seized 34634 pieces of jewellery worth Rs 279 crore and 879913 miscellaneous items valued at Rs 3662 croreDuring the same period 2469 complaints related to violations of the Model Code of Conduct were received across the state via the CVigil app Of these 2452 complaints amounting to 9931 per cent were promptly resolvedWith inputs from Agencies