Maharashtra elections: ECI paves 'wagon-path' to flooded poll-booth

While Maharashtra has been seeing intermittent showers in the past week, that has not stopped the Election Commission of India (ECI) from facilitating people to vote in the state Assembly polls on Monday. In a heartwarming gesture, voters in a polling booth in Kambleshwar village were facilitated to approach their rain-drenched polling booths in an innovative way. In a photo shared by ECI Spokesperson Sheyphali Sharan, the polling authorities had joined many wagons together to help voters avoid the soggy ground and safely cast their votes.

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Innovative 'approach' to poll-booth

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Polling in Maharashtra

Polling is currently underway in Maharashtra, with a voter turnout at 30.7% till 2 PM. Various senior leaders like CM Devendra Fadnavis, the Thackerays, Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani were seen voting. Bollywood too came out in big numbers to exercise their democratic right. Many celebrities like the Khans, Deepika Padukone, Javed Akhtar, and Shabana Azmi were spotted voting at their respective poll booths.

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Maharashtra elections

In Maharashtra, the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the NCP. In the saffron alliance, BJP will be contesting on 150 seats, and Shiv Sena will fight on 124 seats in Maharashtra. Alliance partners of BJP have fielded 14 candidates on the party's lotus symbol. Meanwhile, the Congress is contesting the polls in alliance with the NCP. Both parties are contesting on 125 seats each in the 288-member Assembly and its allies on the remaining 38 seats.

Currently, the BJP holds 122 seats, while the Shiv Sena holds 63 seats. The Opposition held by UPA has 42 seats. Earlier in May, the BJP-Shiv Sena allaince won 41 seats while the UPA was reduced to merely 5 seats. The results of the state Assembly elections will be announced on October 24.
 

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