Voting begins in Maharashtra, 5.79% turnout recorded till 10 am
Maharashtra recorded 63.38 percent turnout in the 2014 assembly elections (Representational Image, Courtesy: socialnews.xyz)
Voting for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2019 began as early as 7 am on Monday, with 5.79 percent voter turnout recorded as of 10 am.
Like previous polls, tribal areas of Thane, Palghar and Nandurbar recorded over 6 percent voter turnout. Meanwhile, most other parts of the state, especially the urban areas, it was around 5 percent.
In the Mumbai suburban area, comprising 26 assembly seats, the voting percentage was around 7.20 percent till 9 am. Voting will end at 6 pm and counting for the polls to the 288-assembly seats will be held on October 24.
The state has total 8,98,39,600 voters, including 1,06,76,013 in the age group of 18 to 25 years. To ensure smooth polling, nearly 6.5 lakh polling personnel have been deployed at 96,661 voting booths across the state.
Amid low turnout, celebrities, political leaders appealed to people to step out and take part in the voting, with similar messages flooding social media and volunteers going door-to-door to bring out the voters in some areas.
Among those who appealed to the masses included RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and his daughter, Supriya Sule, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant and others.
Election Commission officials are optimistic that the slow start may have been due to the rain in many parts of the state, including Mumbai and the voting would pick up subsequently.
Maharashtra recorded 63.38 percent turnout in the 2014 assembly elections.
