Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Ajit Pawar, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat among early voters

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were among the early voters to exercise their franchise as polling was underway on Wednesday for the state assembly elections.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra Pawar cast their vote at Katewadi in Baramati area of Pune district.

Ajit Pawar casts vote in Maharashtra

The deputy CM is pitted against his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar in the Baramati assembly seat.

Yugendra Pawar also cast his vote along with his parents in Baramati.

Ajit Pawar said, "I am confident that the people of Baramati will stand behind me and I will win the seat with a big lead." The BJP, an ally of Ajit Pawar's NCP, on Tuesday played purported voice notes of Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule to allege attempts to encash Bitcoins to influence the state elections, claiming it poses a serious question on the conduct of polls in a free and fair manner.

Asked about it, Ajit Pawar said an investigation should be done to verify the truth in the allegations.

"I was watching the news. I have known Patole for many years. He was the speaker and MLA and I can recognise his voice. Still I cannot correctly say about the voice as there are people who can imitate others' voice," he said.

"But as far as the voice in the present audio notes is concerned, it is Supriya Sule and Nana Patole's voice," the deputy CM further said, adding there will be an inquiry and truth will be known.

Bhagwat exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Nagpur's Mahal area soon after the voting began at 7 am.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat shows his finger marked with indelible ink after casting vote during the Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Nagpur.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote, the RSS chief said in a democracy, voting is the responsibility of every citizen and appealed to the electors to vote on issues and ensure 100 per cent turnout.

"Whenever there is election, I first cast my vote early in the day and then do other works," he said.

Bhagwat said he was in Uttaranchal (Uttarakhand), but cut short his programme and came to Nagpur on Tuesday to vote. "I will leave today," he added.

"Voting is a duty which the electors should perform," he said.

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In Mumbai, city BJP chief Ashish Shelar and former Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik was among the early voters.

Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan cast his vote at the Raj Bhavan club polling centre in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan shows his finger marked with indelible ink after casting vote at Raj Bhavan during the Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Mumbai.

Congress leader Amit Deshmukh voted in Latur.

Many voters queued up at the polling booths in several constituencies of Mumbai since 6:30 am.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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