Balasaheb Shinde (43), a resident of Beed city in Maharashtra, collapsed at the Chhatrapati Shahu Vidyalay polling booth between 2 pm and 3 pm, an official said
Balasaheb Shinde. File pic/ECI
An independent candidate from the Beed assembly seat died when the Maharashtra Assembly election 2024 were underway on Wednesday, a police official said, reported the PTI.
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Balasaheb Shinde (43), a resident of Beed city in Maharashtra, collapsed at the Chhatrapati Shahu Vidyalay polling booth between 2 pm and 3 pm.
He was rushed to a local hospital and later to a private medical facility in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where he lost his life during treatment, the official said, according to the PTI.
Yogesh Kshirsagar of Ajit Pawar's NCP and Sandip Kshirsagar of NCP (SP) headed by Sharad Pawar are among the 31 candidates in the fray in the constituency in the state's Marathwada region. The two are nephews of former Maharashtra minister Jaydatta Kshirsagar.
Beed recorded a voter turnout of 51.92 per cent as of 5 pm.
All 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra went to polls on Wednesday and votes will be counted on November 23 (Saturday).
An estimated 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the Maharashtra assembly elections on Wednesday, where the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is making a determined bid to retain power and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition is hoping to continue its good showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, as per the PTI.
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The figures are provisional, election officials said, adding 61.74 per cent polling was recorded in the 2019 assembly elections in the state.
The Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district recorded a turnout of 69.63 per cent on Wednesday, while Mumbai, the financial capital, saw a turnout of 51.41 per cent. In the 2019 polls, Mumbai's polling figure stood at 50.67 per cent.
Several Bollywood celebrities, including actors Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ranbir Kapoor, cast their votes adding a touch of glamour to the festival of democracy.
The voting for the 288 assembly seats began at 7 am and people sealed the fate of over 4,100 contesting candidates across 1,00,186 booths, an increase from 96,654 in the 2019 elections.
In the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP is contested 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded candidates in 59 constituencies.
In the opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) put up 86 candidates.
(with PTI inputs)