Voter turnout in the second phase of Maharashtra’s Lok Sabha elections has been reported as 31.77% by 1 pm, the lowest among the 12 states polling today. Polling is underway in eight constituencies – Amravati, Nanded, Parbhani, Buldhana, Yavatmal Washim, Akola, Wardha, and Hingoli – from 7 am to 6 pm. A total of 204 candidates are contesting across these constituencies, with Buldhana (21), Akola (37), Wardha (24), Yavatmal Washim (17), Hingoli (33), Nanded (23), and Parbhani (34) seats up for grabs. The eligible voter count stands at 1.49 crore, comprising 77,21,374 men, 72,04,106 women, and 432 from the third gender category, across 16,589 polling centers.
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Parbhani leads the turnout at 33.88%, despite earlier boycotts in protest against encroachments. Nanded follows at 32.93%, Wardha at 32.32%, Akola at 32.25%, Yavatmal Washim at 31.47%, Amravati at 31.40%, Hingoli at 30.46%, and Buldhana at 29.07%. Notably, Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim, and Hingoli witness a direct Shiv Sena vs. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) contest. Mahadev Jankar of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha contests against MP Sanjay Jadhav in Parbhani. Akola sees BJP’s Anup Dhotre vs. Congress’ Abhay Patil. Amravati witnesses a battle between MP Navneet Rana (now BJP nominee) and Congress’ Balwant Wankhede.
In the first phase on April 19, Nagpur, Ramtek, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia, and Gadchiroli-Chimur recorded a 63.70% voter turnout.
