An estimated 62 per cent of total 3.25 crore voters exercised their franchise in the second phase of polling held in 19 constituencies of Maharashtra, even as thousands of voters in Pune city complained through day that their names were missing from the voters’ list.
Hatkanangle lok Sabha constituency in western Maharashtra — where Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetty is seeking re-election — witnessed a maximum 65 per cent polling, followed by 68 per cent of voter turnout in adjoining Kolhapur constituency.
On a day when hundreds of aggrieved Punekars gheraoed District Collector Saurabh Rao for their failure to exercise their voting rights because of the disappearance of their names from the electoral rolls, a relatively low 58.75 per cent of total 17.73 lakh electors cast their votes in Pune lok Sabha constituency, where the Congress’ Vishwajeet Kadam is taking on BJP’s Anil Shirole.
Solapur, where Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is re-election, registered the lowest polling of 67 per cent in the 19 constituencies that went to polls on Thursday, while Baramati — where sitting NCP MP and party chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is seeking re-election — reported a voter turnout of 58.20 per cent.
In Thursday’s second phase of polling held as 19 constituencies of the State — 10 in western Maharashtra, six in Marathwada, two in Konkan region and one in north Maharashtra, there were in all 358 candidates — including 24 women and 201 Independents in the fray.
The final constituency-wise polling percentages, released by the State election authorities, at around 8 pm were as follows: Hingoli 63 per cent, Nanded 63, Parbhani 62, Maval 63.10, Pune 58.75, Baramati 58.20, Shirur 59.50, Ahmednagar 60, Shirdi 61, Beed 64, Osmanabad 65, latur 62, Solapur 57, Madha 62, Sangli 62, Satara 57, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg 60, Kolhapur 68 and Hatknangle 69 per cent.
Prominent among the candidates, whose fate was sealed in ballot boxes, were: Sushilkumar Shinde (Solapur), Adarsh scam ‘tainted’ former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan (Nanded), senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde (Beed), Union Minister Pratik Patil (Sangli), youth Congress leader Vishwajeet Kadam (Pune), sitting NCP MP Supriya Sule (Baramati) and sitting MP and senior State Congress Minister Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh Rane (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency).
Others in the fray included: senior NCP Minister Padamsinh Patil (Osmanabad), Chhatrapati Shivaji’s thirteenth descendent Udayan Raje Bhosale (Satara), Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil and sitting MP of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana Raju Shetty (Hatkanangle).
All through the day, the election authorities in Pune were swamped by complaints of missing names in the voters’ list. Maximum complaints of missing names came from voters residing in the downtown areas of Pune like Kasaba Peth and Shivaji Nagar. As a result, thousands of Punekars could not vote despite their possessing election ID cards and their producing their residential proofs.
Yesteryear actor Amol Palekar was one of the many voters based in Pune who found their names missing from the electoral rolls had to return without exercising their right.
Prominent among those who exercised their franchise in the early hours of polling were: Sushilkumar Shinde (Solapur) Ashok Chavan (Nanded), Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar (both Baramati, Gopinath Munde (Beed) and Raju Shetty (Hatknangle). Social activist Anna Hazare also cast his vote in the morning in his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district.
Among the ordinary citizens who voted was Sriram Rajangam, a resident of Chinchwad in Pune, who had come all the way from China to cast his vote in Thursday’s polls. A manager with a multi-national company, Rajangam is a resident of Empire Estate in Chinchwad. He spent as much as Rs78,000 to come specially to Pune from China to cast his vote in Maval constituency.