Turnout: 60.5 % in Maha, 65% in Haryana
NEW DELHI: The voter turnout in both Maharashtra and Haryana registered a dip in Monday's assembly polls as compared to 2014, indicating that the BJP was poised to return to power in both the states.
While Maharashtra registered a provisional voter turnout of 60.05% until 6 pm, down from 63.08% in 2014, Haryana scored 65%, down from 76.54% in the previous election. History has shown that the incumbent government is likely to continue in power if fewer people turn out to vote.
The final figure of polling could increase, and it will be available on Tuesday, officials said.
The highest turnout was reported in Karveer constituency in Kolhapur, at 83.20 per cent. The lowest turnout was recorded in south Mumbai's upmarket Colaba area at 40.20 per cent.
Rural areas of the state fared better, with voters there showing more enthusiasm than their urban counterparts.
Polling began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm. By 6 pm, 60.46 per cent of voters had exercised their franchise, said the state's chief electoral officer Baldev Singh.
A galaxy of bigwigs from politics, Bollywood and India Inc joined the young and the old in exercising their franchise in this festival of democracy.
A nonagenarian was the cynosure of all eyes as he accompanied Union minister Smriti Irani outside a polling booth in Mumbai.
In Pune, A 102-year-old man, suffering from a heart ailment, went straight to a polling booth to cast his vote after being discharged from a hospital.
The opposition Congress said it filed over 250 complaints of poll procedure violations with the Election Commission.
In Haryana, seven people were hurt in stone-pelting between two groups in a Nuh village, and there were minor incidents in Rohtak, Narnaul and Bahadurgah districts, police said. But they maintained that polling over the 90 assembly constituencies was largely peaceful.
Prominent figures in a field of 1,169 contestants include Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, former Congress CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala and Indian National Lok Dal's Abhay Singh Chautala.
Haryana's ADGP (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk tweeted, Overall situation remained peaceful.
Addressing reporters in the evening with Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal, he said there were minor incidents of clashes in Nuh, Rohtak and Narnaul districts. Altogether, 13 FIRs were registered.
