The third phase did not witness any untoward incident. Voters braved the soaring mercury level which ranged between 38 degree Celsius and 45 degree Celcius to cast their votes.
A voter turnout of 61.30 per cent was recorded on Tuesday during the third phase of polling in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. The third phase did not witness any untoward incident. Voters braved the soaring mercury level which ranged between 38 degree Celsius and 45 degree Celcius to cast their votes. Incidentally, the state election department did not receive any complaint with regard to faulty EVMs in these constituencies.
One person was arrested in Aurangabad for allegedly indulging in bogus voting while one polling agent was withdrawn from a polling booth at Roha falls in Raigad for allegedly applying the purple-coloured ink on the left-hand index finger of the voters. Officers belonging to the State Election Commission immediately transferred all polling agents deployed in that polling station.
Polling in Jalgaon was 58 per cent, in Raver 58 per cent, Jalna 63 per cent, Aurangabad 61.87 per cent, Raigad 58.06 per cent, Pune 53 per cent, Baramati 59.50 per cent, Ahmednagar 63 per cent, Madha 63 per cent, Sangli 64 per cent, Satara 57.06 per cent, Ratnagiri-Suindhudurg 62.26 per cent. Kolhapur 69 per cent, and Hatkalangade 68.50 per cent. The polling was held upto 6pm.
Prominent candidates whose fate is sealed today included NCP nominee Supriya Sule in Baramati, state food and civil supplies minister Girish Bapat in Pune, Chhatrapati Shivaji descendent and NCP nominee Udayanraje Bhosale in Satara, union minister and Shiv Sena nominee Anant Geete in Raigad, farmers leader Raju Shetti in Hatkalangade.
The BJP-Shiv Sena promoted Mahayuti has made the election a prestige battle against the Mahagathbandhan comprising Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, and 54 other parties and organisations. Baramati, which has been a pocket borough of NCP president Sharad Pawar, was hogging the limelight as BJP pulled out all its resources by deploying Ranjana Kul against Pawar's daughter and NCP nominee Supriya Sule who is seeking a third term from there.
In the sugarcane rich Ahmednagar, BJP nominee and leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's son Sujay is pitted against NCP legislator Sangram Jagtap. In Madha, where Pawar had earlier proposed to contest but later withdrew from the contest, NCP nominee Sanjay Shinde was locked in a straight fight against BJP candidate Ranjit Sinh Naik Nimbalkar. Madha is in the news as NCP Vijaysinh Mohite Patil distanced himself from the party while his son Ranjit Mohite Patil joined BJP.
Raigad is another constituency, which attracted eyeballs, where union minister and Shiv Sena nominee Aanat Geete faces a tough challenge from NCP candidate and former state minister Sunil Tatkare. The farmers' leader and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) founder Raju Shetti took on Shiv Sena nominee Dhairyasheel Mane in Hatkalangade.
In Pune, which is state's education capital, where the state food and civil supplies minister Girish Bapat was pitted against Congress nominee Mohan Joshi while in Sangli SSS nominee Vishal Patil gave a run to BJP MP Sanjay Patil who is seeking the second term from there.
The Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut is locked in a triangular contest against Nilesh Rane, the Maharashtra Swabhiman Party candidate, and the Congress's Navinchandra Bandivadekar. Rane's father and former chief minister Narayan Rane was elected to the Rajya Sabha from BJP.
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