Maharashtra Election 2019 Highlights: Voting Ends In Maharashtra, Total Voter Turnout At 60.5%

As many as 59 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units and 19 Electronic Voting Machines were replaced in Nagpur district due to glitches on Monday, reported news agency PTI.

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.

Final voter turnout for the Maharashtra elections till 6 pm registered at 60.5%, says Election Commission

BREAKING: Voting ends in Maharashtra.

Voter turnout till 5 pm in Maharashtra was recorded at 44.6%

BJP national working president JP Nadda to hold a meeting with party's General Secretaries tomorrow at BJP HQ over Maharashtra elections and Haryana elections, reported news agency ANI

 Salman Khan cast vote at a polling vote in Bandra West, Mumbai: news agency ANI

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.

"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.

Provisional voter turnout in Maharashtra election 2019 till 4 pm is 43.8%.

Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri cast their votes at polling booth no 177 in Bandra West, Mumbai, reported news agency ANI.

Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan leave after casting their vote at a polling booth in Mumbai's Juhu area, reported news agency ANI.

Haji Ibrahim Aleem Joad, a 102-year-old man cast vote along with his family at a polling booth in Maharashtra's Lohegaon. "I was admitted to hospital for 4 days but today I'm here to cast my vote. I urge everyone to come forward & vote," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with his wife Amruta and mother Sarita on Monday cast his vote at a polling station in Nagpur.

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.

In a bid to make the polling process convenient for women voters, temporary creches for their children have seen set up for the first time in some Assembly segments of Maharashtra, an official said on Monday, reported news agency PTI.

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.

As voting for the Assembly polls progressed across Maharashtra on Monday, reports of minor fights came in from Beed and Jalna districts, officials said late afternoon.

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.

Senior Congress leader Milind Deora on Monday appealed the people of Maharashtra, especially youngsters, to come out and vote in large numbers.

"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.