60 per cent voting turnout reported in Maharashtra

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Litmus test for Modi as PM took challenge single-handedly after break-up with Shiv Sena googletag.

Mumbai: Brisk voting was reported across Maharashtra on Wednesday with about 60 per cent of the 82.5 million-strong electorate exercising its franchise by 6pm when polling came to a close in elections for the 288-seat state assembly.

Polling was by and large peaceful in Maharashtra though stray instances of violence were reported from some of the Naxalite-hit areas in the east. Voter turnout was low in the morning especially in Mumbai and other cities across the state but picked up later in the afternoon.

By 3pm about 45 per cent polling had been reported but there was a spurt later in the day especially towards the close. The voting percentage was much higher in rural constituencies.

In Mumbai Bollywood celebrities turned out in large numbers to vote in constituencies in the western suburbs of Bandra Khar Juhu and Andheri. Many of them urged the electorate to turn out in large numbers and exercise their franchise.

The fate of more than 4100 candidates was sealed by the electorate in one of the toughest contests in about 15 years. Most of the 288 constituencies across the state saw five-cornered contests with two national (BJP and Congress) and three regional (Nationalist Congress Party Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) battling it out.

It was the first time in more than two decades that political parties had not come together in pre-poll alliances. The two major alliances the National Democratic Alliance (which included the BJP and the Shiv Sena) and the United Progressive Alliance (comprising the Congress and the NCP) collapsed less than a fortnight before voting began.

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi who campaigned extensively on behalf of his BJP conducting 27 rallies over the past 10 days this is a prestigious election. After the BJP was swept into power in general elections in May winning a majority of parliamentary seats the party suffered a setback in two sets of by-elections.

Modi took on the Maharashtra electoral challenge almost single-handedly after the break-up of the partnership with the Shiv Sena. In fact all the other parties — the Congress the NCP the Sena and the MNS — targeted the prime minister making it appear like a Modi versus the rest fight.

While a majority of the opinion polls have predicted the BJP would emerge as the single-largest party — with some even giving it a simple majority in the 288-seat assembly –— the other parties have dismissed the polls.

A more definitive picture would appear after results of the exit polls which began to trickle in immediately after the conclusion of voting on Wednesday. Counting of votes will be held on Sunday and the results declared later in the day.

In Mumbai which has 36 assembly constituencies the Congress is facing an uphill battle trying to retain the 17 seats that it won in the 2009 assembly elections. The failure of the Shiv Sena and the MNS to stitch together a pre-poll alliance would hurt the prospects of both the parties in Mumbai Thane and Konkan considered their strongholds.

The Congress and the NCP are also facing a major onslaught from the BJP and some of its junior allies in western Maharashtra and Marathawada. The division of votes caused by five-cornered contests would result in candidates emerging victorious with narrow margins in many seats.

Post the announcement of results if no party is able to muster a simple majority there could be hectic parlays with unlikely parties joining alliances. Though both the BJP and the NCP have denied that they will have join hands political observers here do not rule out any possibility.

nithinkhaleejtimes.com

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