Voting in Maharashtra, to elect the next government in the state, ended today. Polling began at 7 am this morning and was over by 6 pm today. The voter turnout till 3 pm was only 34.2 per cent, significantly down when compared to the turnout till 3 pm in 2014. The final voter turnout was registered at 60.5% for Maharashtra. This is the first state election, or assembly election after this year's national election, which the BJP won by a landslide. For the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP and Shiv Sena are contesting in an alliance, while the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party or NCP are contesting together in the other big alliance.
Several regional parties are also contesting either in alliance with these two bigger alliances, or independently. The Maharashtra Assembly election is due as the incumbent Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party in the state has completed its 5-year term, and the next government in the state must be elected and sworn in by November 9, when the current term ends.
Here are the voting day highlights for The Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019:
Fifty-nine VVPAT machines, 34 control units and 19 ballot units (EVMs) were replaced due to technical glitches in 12 assembly constituencies of the district, the District information office said, according to PTI.

The ruling BJP is set to win the Maharashtra and Haryana polls, the first since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide win in the national election in May, exit polls said after voting ended in the two states.

Maharashtra Election 2019: A 102-year-old man came with his family of 40 members to cast vote in Pune's Lohgaon for the Maharashtra assembly elections.

Election in Maharashtra: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday exuded confidence that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra will break all previous records by winning more than 222 seats.





Union Minister Smriti Irani, who voted in Mumbai today, introduced a 93-year-old man to appeal to people to step out and participate in the voting process in the Maharashtra election.
"Not just 220, we will cross 222 seats this time in Maharashtra. The Congress had won 222 seats once but we are going to break this record and form an even stronger government this time," Mr Javadekar told news agency ANI.
The Union Minister asserted that BJP was going to win in Haryana too and said that the people were voting for the BJP based on the work done under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The people are coming out to vote in large numbers in both Maharashtra and Haryana. They are once again siding with the BJP, it is because of the work done by both the state governments under the guidance of Narendra Modi," Mr Javadekar said.
Polling for 90 seats of Haryana and 288 constituencies of Maharashtra began at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm in the evening.
In Maharashtra, BJP is contesting 150 seats while its ally Shiv Sena has fielded 124 candidates. The remaining seats have been left for smaller allies. On the other hand, Congress is contesting the polls in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The counting of votes will be done on October 24.

Sharad Pawar, who virtually led the opposition's campaign for the Maharashtra polls, predicted a "change of government" as voting took place in the state today.







The Chief Minister urged people to take part in this democratic process.
"I appeal everyone should come out and vote. This is the time to take part in the process of democracy. People have right to choose their government and those who vote has more right to keep expectations from their government," the Chief Minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Elections began on 288 constituencies of Maharashtra at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Counting of votes will be held on October 24.
In Mumbai, 9,894 polling stations have been set up at 1,537 locations. 36 out of 288 seats come in the city of Mumbai where 334 candidates are in the contest, reported ANI. The city has 97.72 lakh registered voters.
BJP is contesting on 164 seats, which includes candidates of smaller allies contesting on its lotus symbol, while its key ally Shiv Sena has fielded 126 candidates.
On the other hand, Congress has candidates in 147 constituencies and NCP will contest 121 seats.
Since many women voters have no option but to carry their children along with them to the polling booths, the Election Commission came up with this initiative, the EC official said.
"The experiment was carried out for the first time during the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, and now the EC has replicated the same concept in the Maharashtra polls," the official was quoted as saying by PTI.
"This is the first time that the EC has come up with such a facility for women voters, who can now keep their children at the creche for a brief period and exercise their franchise," he said.
The initiative was taken after the EC observed how voters travelled to the polling stations and how much average time they spent at the booths, he said.
Most of the urban woman voters were found carrying their children along with them to the booths, he said.
"Since rules prohibit taking children inside the voting room, the EC came up with the concept of setting up temporary creches, having a dedicated anganwadi worker and equipped with some toys for kids to play," he said.
The anganwadi workers are employees of the government-run women and child care centres.
In Beed's Balepeer area, over 380 kilometres from Maharashtra capital Mumbai, supporters of Shiv Sena candidate Jaydatt Kshirsagar and NCP candidate Sandeep Kshirsagar had an altercation over allegations of vehicles being used to ferry voters to polling booths, an official said.
The area was tense for a while before police, as well as the two candidates, defused the situation, he added.
In Jalna's Jamkhed area, over 400 kilometres from Mumbai, two groups owing allegiance to local leaders clashed before being separated by police, an official said.
"I would like to appeal this to all the people of Maharashtra to come out and cast their precious votes. I would like to request the young voters, especially, to come to vote for progress in Maharashtra," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI after casting his ballot.
On October 14, Congress leader Sanjay Niupam had called Deora ''Nikamma'' (useless) and downplayed speculation over his absence at Rahul Gandhi's rally in the state during the run-up to the elections.
Mr Deora had earlier replaced Mr Nirupam as the Mumbai Congress chief.
Out of the 288 Assembly constituencies in the state, Maharashtra's Armori witnessed the highest voter turnout of 52.89 per cent and Ulhasnagar witnessed the lowest at 15.70 per cent till 1 pm.
Elections began on 288 constituencies of Maharashtra at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Counting of votes will be held on October 24.
Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri cast their votes at polling booth no 177 in Bandra West, Mumbai. #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/kp6kt9IYWw
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019
Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar after casting their vote at a polling booth in Mumbai. #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/JQXSL5sxUJ
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019
Deepika Padukone after casting her vote at a polling booth in Bandra (West), Mumbai. #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/A5uiWkPVms
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019
Today I went to Polling booth for first time.
- PIB in Maharashtra (@PIBMumbai) October 21, 2019
What about you?
आज मी पहिल्यांदा मतदान केंद्रावर गेलो होतो. तुम्ही गेला होता का?#MaharashtraAssemblyPolls #MaharashtraElections2019 pic.twitter.com/aOSqAVMIbo
After voting, Mr Tendulkar said, "This morning, I read in a newspaper something which is not so common and talks about commitment. The article made a mention of three senior citizens, including one wheelchair-bound 94-year-old person, who was going to make an effort to come out and vote."
The other two senior citizens, 100 and 106 years old, were also making an effort to go to vote, he said, quoting the article.
"So, I think, we could change our tomorrow and make it better. Whoever you feel like supporting, whoever you believe in, you should go out and vote. Whoever is eligible to vote, must vote," he added.
Former India player Sandeep Patil, who was part of the 1983 World Cup winning team, also cast his vote at a polling booth in Shivaji Park area in central Mumbai. Legendary batsman Dilip Vengsarkar, who stays in Worli area of Mumbai, also voted.
मतदान करणे आपल्या सर्वांचे कर्तव्य आहे. माझं मत मी नोंदवलं आहे, आपण सर्व सुद्धा मतदान करून या लोकशाहीच्या सोहळ्याचा भाग व्हा.
- Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 21, 2019
Happy to have voted & fulfilled my responsibility. Let's turn out in large numbers to vote & be part of a vibrant democracy.#MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/S1zQXtqEQc
Mumbai: Actors Anil Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan, leave after casting their vote at a polling booth in Andheri (West). #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/M0FRWQqxCv
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019
The state Congress unit also sent 187 complaints to the Election Commission of malfunctioning of EVMs.
In Ratnagiri's Dhamangaon village, polling was stopped at a booth from 8:30 am to 10 am due to a technical fault in the electronic voting machine (EVM), he said. The EVM glitch also halted the polling process at a booth in Kalamban Gavhanwadi village in Ratnagiri since 9:42 am, he said, adding that voting resumed there around 12:30 pm.
In Bhandara district, polling was disrupted from 9:15 am to 9:35 am due to a similar issue, he said. Long queues were witnessed outside these polling stations as the voting process was disrupted.
In Mumbai, polling at a centre near the Doordarshan office in Worli area was halted for sometime due to a technical error, the official told news agency PTI. However, the issue was resolved soon and polling resumed, he added.
Polling was underway in all 288 Assembly seats since 7 am and will end at 6 pm.
#MaharashtraAssemblyPolls: Actor and BJP MP Hema Malini casts her vote at a polling booth in Mumbai's Andheri (West). pic.twitter.com/xkCxLAhq0r
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019
Union Minister Smriti Irani after casting her vote at a polling booth in Mumbai. #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/o1NUcbDYIa
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019


#MaharashtraAssemblyPolls: Actor Govinda & wife Sunita cast their vote at a polling booth in Andheri (West). pic.twitter.com/7Jr3XkUgDA
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019
#WATCH Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar after casting his vote in Mumbai: I request everyone to come out and vote in large numbers, this is a celebration of democracy. #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/V920UfLZr9
- ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2019
मतदान करणे आपल्या सर्वांचे कर्तव्य आहे. माझं मत मी नोंदवलं आहे, आपण सर्व सुद्धा मतदान करून या लोकशाहीच्या सोहळ्याचा भाग व्हा.
- Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 21, 2019
Happy to have voted & fulfilled my responsibility. Let's turn out in large numbers to vote & be part of a vibrant democracy.#MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/S1zQXtqEQc
#AssemblyElections2019 | 13.2% voter turnout recorded in Maharashtra till 11am.#MaharashtraAssemblyPolls #ElectionsWithNDTV
- NDTV (@ndtv) October 21, 2019
Live coverage on https://t.co/Fbzw6mR9Q5 and NDTV 24x7 pic.twitter.com/Dzw1oeEUqO