Lok Sabha elections 2024: Despite heat, Maharashtra shows up with 56.54 per cent

An approximate voter turnout of 5654 per cent was recorded in Lok Sabha polls held on Friday in Nagpur Ramtek BhandaraGondia Chandrapur and GadchiroliChimur in Vidarbha though final figures will be updated on Saturday an official said The lowest voting was recorded in Nagpur at 5120 per cent while it was 6630 per cent in GadchiroliChimur 5687 in BhandaraGondia and 5614 per cent in Chandrapur he saidAltogether 97 candidates including Union minister Nitin Gadkari are in the fray in Nagpur Ramtek SC BhandaraGondia Chandrapur and Naxalhit GadchiroliChimur ST constituency all located in easternmost parts of the statePinkbooths managed by lsquoallwomenrsquo teams in NagpurThe voter turnout stood at 3456 per cent in BhandaraGondia till 1 pm the official said Chandrapur recorded a turnout of 3096 per cent GadchiroliChimur 4001 per cent Nagpur 2875 per cent and Ramtek 2873 per cent till 1 pm the official saidThe average turnout in the five seats was about 306 per cent till 1 pm he saidTo avoid any technical snags cropping up in Electronic Voting Machines being used in remote polling booths in Gadchiroli three spare EVMs were dispatched by a helicopter to the Sironcha area of the district another official saidSenior citizen coming to vote in a wheelchair in Vidarbha PicXPolling in the 43 other Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in four more phases later this month and in MayThere are 9554667 voters in the five Lok Sabha constituencies in the Vidarbha region Of these 4828142 are male 4726178 female and 347 transgender voters an election official saidIn Nagpur there is a direct fight between senior BJP leader Gadkari who is seeking a third term and Congress candidate Vikas Thakre The highprofile constituency which houses the RSS headquarters has a total of 2218259 voters 1110 840 male 1107197 female and 222 transgender personsVoters pose at selfie point after voting in Vidarbha PicXRSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Gadkari Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit were among those who voted in NagpurIn Chandrapur BJP candidate and Maharashtra minister Sudhir Mungantiwar is facing Congress nominee Pratibha Dhanorkar wife of late parliamentarian Suresh Dhanorkar who was the lone MP from the grand old party to be elected to the Lok Sabha from Maharashtra in 2019 Chandrapur has 1836314 voters including 945026 males and 891240 femalesIn BhandaraGondia the BJP has fielded sitting MP Sunil Mendhe who is pitted against Congress candidate Dr Prashant Patole BhandaraGondia has a total of 1875106 voters 936041 males 939056 females and 12 transgendersTwotime Lok Sabha MP of BJP Ashok Nete is contesting against Congress nominee Dr Namdev Kirsan in GadchiroliChimur ST where some areas are affected by Naxal insurgency The constituency has 1612930 voters 811836 males 801082 females and 12 transgendersIn Ramtek the fight is between Shyamkumar Barwe of the Congress and Eknath Shindeled Shiv Senarsquos candidate Raju Parwe The constituency has a total of 2045717 voters 1043266 males 1002396 females and 55 transgendersFive assembly segments spread across two Lok Sabha seats including Naxalhit GadchiroliChimur are voting between 7 am and 3 pm unlike other areas where voters can exercise their franchise until 6 pmIn the assembly segments of Amgaon Armori Gadchiroli and Aheri of GadchiroliChimur Lok Sabha constituency and Arjune Morgaon in BhandaraGondia seat polling is being held between 7 am and 3 pm the official said97No of candidates in the frayFadnavis casts vote in NagpurMaharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis casts his vote PicPTIMaharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cast his vote in Nagpur for the Lok Sabha elections on FridayThe deputy CM arrived at the Dharampeth Hindi High School polling booth here along with his wife Amruta and mother Sarita Fadnavis shortly after 10 amPolling is being held in the Nagpur constituency where Union minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari is pitted against Congressrsquo Vikas Thakre in the first phaseSpeaking with the media after casting his vote he said the festival of democracy has begun in the country and urged people to exercise their franchise