Representative image indicating voting
Credit: iStock Photo
Maharashtra will go to vote on November 20, and results for the 288-seat assembly will be declared on November 23.
Since the last assembly elections in the state, the political landscape has changed with the Shiv Sena and NCP splitting into two factions.
The Shiv Sena now has an Eknath Shinde faction, which has retained the original name, while Uddhav Thackeray has had to settle for the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, after Shinde's rebellion which saw the fall of the last government.
Sharad Pawar, too, faced rebellion from nephew Ajit, who has kept the NCP name, while the veteran politician now heads NCP(SP).
In the 13 assembly elections in the state, Maharashtra has seen an average voter turnout of 62.2 per cent.
The western state saw the highest turnout in 1995, and the lowest was in 1980.
The EC has already flagged the issue of urban voter apathy in Maharashtra.
Turnouts in 62 of 64 urban assembly constituencies were less than the state average in 2019, as was the case in Lok Sabha elections, CEC Rajiv Kumar said, after which the Thane collector promised corrective action.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai's Colaba, officials have been reaching out to housing colonies and civil society to increase voting.
In the 2019 state polls, south Mumbai's upmarket Colaba area saw a low voter turnout of about 40 per cent.
In a bid to address the issue of urban apathy, the Election Commission has decided to hold voting this time on Wednesday (November 20), with an aim to discourage voters from going on vacations if the exercise is clubbed with weekends.
The Election Commission has been flagging the issue of low polling in urban centres, including those like Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, and has been taking a number of steps to increase voter awareness.
Speaking to reporters, Mumbai City Collector Sanjay Yadav said they have prepared a list of polling booths which witnessed low voter turnout in the last few elections and formulated an action plan as per the polling station.
(With PTI inputs)
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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