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Polling parties left for their respective booths across Maharashtra on Tuesday as the state prepares to conduct its 2024 Assembly elections and elect a new government.
The state is set to witness the battle against two major alliances, with the ruling Mahayuti comprising BJP, Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena facing off against the opposition Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA), comprising Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SCP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT). The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the North Nagpur Assembly constituency were kept at the Saint Ursula School in Nagpur, and were dispatched to their respective polling booths earlier today. Returning Officer Swati Desai talked about the system devised for effective dispatch of the EVMs. "They (polling parties) have been given training twice. This is the third training as well as their dispatch. We have set up a total of 40 tables here. 10-12 polling booths come under each table. We have kept machines as per that on all tables, and according to that we have gotten the machines, kept the material on the table and according to the number of the the booth we are giving the material. All polling parties checked their material. If everything is good, we will dispatch them in buses," she said during the checking of the EVMs. Baramati Sub Divisional Officer and Returning Officer Vaibhav Navadkar highlighted the preparations being done in the Baramati assembly constituency. Deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar is the incumbent in the Baramati, and he will be having an electoral battle with NCP (SP)'s Yungendra Pawar. The constituency has over 386 polling booths, with the mock poll to be held at 5:30 AM and the polling for the general public to start at 7 AM. "In Baramati Assembly Constituency, there are 386 polling booths. The polling parties have been dispatched to their respective polling booths. We have deployed sector officers in 39 sectors...A constable has been assigned to each polling party. The mock poll will start tomorrow at 5:30 in the morning and polling will start at 7 in the morning. All the requisite facilities have been assured at every polling booth. We have established a pink booth also," said Returning Officer Navadkar. Maharashtra will go to the polls tomorrow in a fierce electoral contest that has major implications for the future of political players in the state with keen contests on the cards across all regions of the vast state that has 288 assembly seats. Leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) held extensive campaigns and made major pre-poll promises with observers stating that local factors will also have a significant role in deciding the electoral outcome. This is the first assembly election since the split in Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party and a lot is at stake for various players.Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray lost his chief ministerial position due to split in his party in 2022 and the party is keen to prove a point in the assembly polls. His key rival Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has also gained popularity due to welfare measures initiated by Mahayuti government and there is a seeming clash over who is true inheritor of Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy. NCP also suffered a split with Ajit Pawar joining the ruling alliance as Deputy Chief Minister in July last year. His uncle Sharad Pawar, who now heads NCP(SP), has kept a tight campaign and is keen to see that there is no dent to his long legacy in politics. (ANI)
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