Mumbai: The average voter turnout for all the four phases is 60 percent whereas the turnout of the fourth phase on Monday registered an average of 57 per cent.
In all phases, Gadchiroli-Chimur, the tribal constituency, has registered the highest 72 percent voting. Again, in the fourth phase, Nandurbar, another tribal constituency, has registered 62.44 percent, four percent less than 2014 polls.
In the fourth phase, candidates from top political families including Pawars, Patil and Bhujbal were in the poll fray and their political fate is now locked in the Electronic Voting Machines till May 23. The poll took place for 17 seats, six from Mumbai and 11 from Konkan, Khandesh and part of Western Maharashtra region.
Apart from Mumbai, the remaining LS seats included Nandurbar, Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Maval, Shirur and Shirdi. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Parth Pawar, son of Ajit Pawar, contested from Maval against Shrirang Barane of Shiv Sena.
Kunal Patil, Congress candidate from Dhule is son of Rohidas Patil, former minister and five-time legislator. He is pitted against Subhash Bhamare, BJP candidate and union minister for defence. In Nashik, Sameer Bhujbal, nephew of former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal is in poll fray. He is pitted against Hemant Godse of Sena and BJP rebel Manikrao Kokate.
The lowest turnout (41.64 per cent) was recorded in Kalyan, where Dr Shrikant Shinde of Sena is pitted against Babaji Patil of NCP. Sena insider claimed BJP did not work for Sena candidates in Kalyan and Maval. However, BJP maintains that Sena did not work in Bhiwandi.
In Bhiwandi, BJP’s Kapil Patil is pitted against Suresh Tawre of Congress. It was considered that Bhiwandi rural assembly segment, which has registered 62.1 percent voting, has been going in favour of Congress whereas Murbad which has registered 58 percent voting is believed to be going against BJP.