Barring firing by a group of Naxalites at a polling party before commencement of polling in Gadchiroli district, voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra was by and large peaceful today with an estimated 54 percent of the 1.92 crore electorate exercising their franchise, under the cover of a thick security blanket, in 13 constituencies in Vidharbha and Marathwada regions of the state.
The firing occurred at Kondawahi village in the district early this morning when the polling party was being escorted to a booth.
No one was injured in the firing and the Ultras fled to the nearby jungle after the security personnel retaliated. In Marathwada, at Babulgaon in Hingoli Lok Sabha constituency Electronic Voting Machines were broken by Shiv Sena workers and four of them were arrested in this connection.
The polling, which commenced at 0700 hrs, ended at 1700 hrs in both the regions, except a few naxal-affected areas in Vidarbha where it ended at 1500 hrs due to security concerns, as per the directives of Election Commission. Even as morderate polling was witnessed in the morning at both the regions, it picked up pace later.
The Marathwada region, where three constituencies went to polls, an average 55 average polling was registered, with Parbhani witnessing the highest turnout at around 57 percent, followed by Hingoli at 55 per cent and Nanded at 52 per cent.
In the Vidarbha region, where polling was held for 10 constiuencies, the Bhandara-Gondia lok sabha seat, where union civil aviation minister Praful Patel is in the fray, had recorded the highest turnout of 51,95 per cent till 1500 hrs, followed by Buldhana with 42.89 per cent, Akola 37.39 per cent, Amravati 39.40 per cent, Yavatmal-Washim 37.02 per cent, Wardha 33.73 per cent and Chandrapur with 36.96 per cent.
The voter turnout in both the regions was, however, apparently lower compared to 56 per cent registered in 2004 general elections.
With the end of the first phase in the state, the political fortunes of bigwigs like Union Minister of State for Renewable Energy Vilas Muttemwar (Nagpur, Congress), Union Minister Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel (Bhandara-Gondia, NCP) and former Union minister of state Mukul Wasnik (Ramtek, Congress) have been sealed in the ballot boxes.
In the Marathwada region, the main candidates include Union minister Suryakanta Patil (NCP-Hingoli), a State Minister Suresh Varpudkar (NCP-Parbhani) and Chief minister Ashok Chavan's brother-in-law Bhaskarrao Patil-Khatgaonkar (INC-Nanded.) Mr Chavan was among the first to cast his vote at Nanded in Marathwada region.