State witnesses 31.55% Voter turnout until 1 p.m.; Pawar family among early voters

Mumbai: A voter turnout of 31.55% was recorded till 1 pm in 11 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, where polling is underway on Tuesday in the third phase of the general elections, election authorities said.

According to data shared by authorities, Latur recorded 32.71% polling, Sangli 29.65%, Baramati 27.55%, Hathkanangale 36.17%, Kolhapur 38.42%, Madha 26.61%, Osmanabad 30.54 %, Raigad 31.34%, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg 33.91%, Satara 32 .78% and Solapur 29.32%.

The Pawar family cast their votes

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawar, the NCP candidate from Baramati, and his mother Asha Pawar were among the early voters. They cast their votes at a polling booth in Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district, where Sunetra is pitted against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, the sitting MP from Baramati.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, his wife Pratibha Pawar, daughter Supriya Sule and her family, MLA Rohit Pawar and his family also voted in Baramati.

Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia cast their votes

Actor couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh cast their votes in Latur, while Union Minister Narayan Rane voted in Sindhudurg. Ritesh Deshmukh is the son of Congress leader and former state chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh. Rane is the BJP candidate from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat.

Voting began at 7 am in the eleven Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Some prominent participants include royal scions Shahu Chhatrapati of Congress in Kolhapur and Udayanraje Bhosale of BJP in Satara.

A total of 2.09 crore persons are eligible to vote for 258 candidates in the third phase, an official said. As many as 23,036 polling stations have been set up in the state, he said. There are 1,07,64,741 male voters, 1,02,26,946 female voters and 929 of the third gender, the official said.

Published: Tuesday, May 7, 2024 3:15 PM IST