Maharashtra, Haryana Elections: Polling Ends In Two States, BJP Hopes To Retain Both: 10 Updates

Polling is underway for 288 constituencies in Maharashtra and 90 seat in Haryana. The voting began on a slow note with around 5% turnout registered at 9 am in Maharashtra. However, the polling has picked up pace and many feel that the day will end with better turnout in both states. The BJP that has been ruling both Haryana and Maharashtra is looking to return to power in the states. Union Minister Piyush Goyal had in fact said that the BJP will win around 225 seats in Maharashtra. In Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar is confident of winning second term. In a unique approach, Khattar took train and cycle today to reach a polling booth in Karnal. Whereas to woo the voters of Jatland, JJP’s Dushyant Chautala was seen arriving at polling station on a tractor.

Here are 10 latest updates from these crucial elections:

1: The polling in Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections ended at 6 pm. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) data, Haryana recorded a turnout of 67.97 per cent. Maharashtra, on the other hand, had abysmal voting of 55.33 per cent.

2: Bigwigs including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal were among the early voters who cast their ballots on Monday. Fadnavis was accompanied by his wife and mother. Gadkari, who has not been seen that prominently during the poll campaign, said that the next Chief Minister will be from BJP only.

3: EVM technical glitches were reported from parts of Maharashtra. Faulty EVMs delayed polling at some booths in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri and Bhandara districts on Monday, an official said. Polling was also halted for sometime at a booth in Worli area of Mumbai due to a technical error, he said. The state Congress unit also sent 187 complaints to the Election Commission of malfunctioning of EVMs. In Ratnagiri's Dhamangaon village, polling was stopped at a booth from 8.30 am to 10 am due to a technical fault in the electronic voting machine (EVM), he said. The EVM glitch also halted the polling process at a booth in Kalamban Gavhanwadi village in Ratnagiri since 9.42 am, he said, adding that voting resumed there around 12.30 pm.

4: In a bid to make the polling process convenient for women voters, temporary creches for their children have seen set up for the first time in some Assembly segments of Maharashtra, an official said on Monday. Since many women voters have no option but to carry their children along with them to the polling booths, the Election Commission came up with this initiative, the EC official said.

5: Other urban areas like Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad reported a moderate response, while the turnout in rural areas was on the higher side. From Shah Rukh Khan to Aamir Khan to Deepika Padukone and Salman Khan, several Bollywood celebrities turned up to cast their votes. Apart from Mumbai, other urban areas like Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad reported a moderate response, while the turnout rural areas was on the higher side.

6: 3,237 candidates, including 235 women, are in the fray in Maharashtra. The state has total 8,98,39,600 voters, including 1,06,76,013 in the age group of 18 to 25 years. Nearly 6.5 lakh polling personnel have been deployed at 96,661 polling booths across the state.

7: In Haryana, as per the Election Commission data, brisk polling was going on in many districts and around noon close to 25 per cent voters had exercised their votes. Among the constituencies where brisk polling was going on included Kaithal (32 per cent), Guhla reserved segment (31 per cent), Thanesar (27.64 per cent), Sirsa (27 per cent), Narnaund (32 per cent), Tohana (30.50 per cent), Tosham (36 per cent), Rewari (30 per cent).

8: As many as 1,169 candidates including 105 women of various political parties are contesting the election in Haryana.

9: At present, the BJP has 48 members in the state assembly. As many as 19,578 polling stations have been set, including 13,837 in rural areas, Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, Anurag Agarwal said.

10: Over 1.83 crore voters are eligible to vote that includes 85 lakh women, over one lakh service voters and 252 transgenders. This time, out of the total eligible voters, over 89 lakh young voters are under 40 years of age and there are over 3.82 lakh voters, many of them first-timers, who fall in the age group of 18-19 years.