04 April,2024 09:37 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Navneet Rana and Prakash Ambedkar filed their nomination papers of Thursday. File pic.
A total of 352 candidates have filed their nominations for the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra that will vote in the second phase on April 26, said an official in the state electoral office on Thursday. The candidates included independent and from all parties including those from major parties like the BJP and the Congress.
The Lok Sabha constituencies that will go to polls in the second phase are Buldhana, Akola, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani -- spread across Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of the state.
The Nanded Lok Sabha constituency received 92 nominations from 74 candidates, the highest among the eight seats, while Wardha has got 38 nominations from 27 contestants, the lowest.
As per PTI report, these contestants have submitted a total of 477 nominations (meaning some of them have filed more than one set of papers), the electoral office said. Thursday (April 4) was the last day of filing nominations for the seats in the state covered in the second round of polling. These nominations will now be scrutinised and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is April 8.
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Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh (80), will vote in five phases starting from April 19. to June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.
Some of the prominent candidates from Maharashtra who filed their nomination are: BJP's Navneet Rana from Amravati seat, BJP's Pratap Chikhlikar from Nanded seat, VBA's Prakash Ambedkar from Amravati seat, Shiv Sena's Rajashri Patil from Yavatmal-Washim (wife of Hingoli MP Hemant Patil who was was fielded at the last moment dropping sitting MP Bhavana Gawli), Shiv Sena's Baburao Kadam-Kohlikar from Hingoli (who was fielded last moment by dropping sitting MP Hemant Patil) among others.
Meanwhile, Mumbai City district collector Sanjay Yadav on Wednesday stressed on the need to increase voter participation in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and said authorities are targeting 70 per cent turnout when the metropolis votes on May 20. He said Mumbai City district has more than 24.59 lakh registered voters who can exercise their franchise at 2,509 booths, reported PTI.
(With PTI inputs)
