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Mumbai/Chandigarh: The Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections held on Monday saw a voter turnout of around 63% and 62%, respectively till 6 p.m. In Maharashtra, the turnout almost matched the 63.38% polling recorded in the last state elections in 2014, though the figure may change later.
Rural areas of the state fared better, with voters there showing more enthusiasm than their urban counterparts.
Haryana recorded a turnout of 62%, much lower than 76.5% last election, at the close of polling for 90 constituencies in the Assembly elections on Monday, officials said.
Polling was largely peaceful, barring one violent incident in Nuh, officials said.
According to the Election Commission 62% of the registered voters had exercised their franchise by 6 pm, when polls closed.
However, people who had entered the polling booths before the stipulated closing time will be allowed to cast their vote, officials said. The figure of 62% is provisional, and may rise slightly.
The Haryana voting percentage was 76.54% in the 2014 Assembly elections and 70.36% in this year's Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission said 1,169 candidates, including 105 women, contested this election.
Currently, the BJP has 48 members in the state assembly. Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said 19,578 polling stations were set up, 13,837 of them in rural areas.
Over 1.83 crore voters, including 85 lakh women, were eligible to vote in Haryana. The figure includes over one lakh
Maharashtra has total 8,98,39,600 voters, including 1,06,76,013 in the age group of 18 to 25 years. Nearly 6.5 lakh polling personnel were deployed at 96,661 polling booths across the state.
The opposition Congress said it filed over 250 complaints of poll procedure violations with the Election Commission, including one for Ramtek segment where it said if the EVM button was pressed in favour of Congress candidate, the vote was shown to be going to the BJP nominee.
BYPOLLS -- Gujarat: 51% Turnout in 6 Seats
Ahmedabad: As the polling for bye-elections to six Assembly seats in Gujarat came to an end at 6 p.m on Monday, a moderate 51% average voter turnout had been registered between 8 am and 5 pm.
Final polling figures were yet to be collated, said an election official.
The bypolls were held for Tharad in Banaskantha district, Radhanpur in Patan, Kheralu in Mehsana, Bayad in Arvalli, Amraiwadi in Ahmedabad and Lunawada in Mahisagar district.
Madhya Pradesh: 62% Voting in Jhabua
Jhabua: Around 62% voters exercised franchise in Jhabua assembly byelection in Madhya Pradesh at the end of polling on Monday, an official said.
"Around 62 per cent voter turnout was recorded. The voters who were in the queue by 5 pm are being allowed to vote," state's Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao told PTI.
Jhabua collector Prabal Sipaha said the polling took place without any untoward incident.
A VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) unit was replaced at a booth due to a technical problem, he said.
Punjab: Over 60% Polling on 4 Seats
Chandigarh: An overall turnout of more than 60% was registered till 6 p.m in the bypolls to four Assembly seats -- Phagwara (reserve), Jalalabad, Dakha and Mukerian -- in Punjab.
There was no report of any untoward incident in these four assembly segments, officials said.
Around 7.76 lakh voters were eligible to decide the fate of 33 candidates. The results of the elections will be declared on October 24.
Chhattisgarh: 74% Turnout in Naxal-Hit Seat
Raipur: A high voter turnout of 74.39% was recorded in the bypoll to the Naxal-hit Chitrakot Assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh till the scheduled deadline of 5 p.m on Monday, an election official here said.
The voting till 5 pm was peaceful and those standing in queues in the premises of polling booths after the official end of voting will be allowed to exercise their democratic right and this may push up the final turnout figure, he said.
Six candidates are in the fray from the Naxal-affected seat reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) nominees, but the main contest is between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.
The bypoll in the assembly segment, which falls in the Bastar region, became necessary after sitting Congress MLA Deepak Baij resigned after winning from the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency in May.
Guwahati: An estimated 72.62% of the electorate exercised their franchise in the bye-election to four Assembly seats in Assam on Monday, election office sources said.
The by-polls were held at Ratabari, Rangapara, Sonari and Jania.
The final poll percentage is, however, expected to be higher as queues of voters are seen waiting at the polling booths.
As per norm those who enter the polling booths before the scheduled end of voting are allowed to exercise their franchise.
Arunachal Pradesh: 89% Turnout in Khonsa
Itanagar: An estimated 89% over 10,000 voters exercised their franchise in the bye-election to Khonsa West Assembly constituency in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday amidst tight security, election officials said.
Chief Electoral Officer D J Bhattacharjee said polling was absolutely peaceful amid tight security measures without any report of untoward incidents from the constituency which witnessed a straight contest between two independent candidates - Chakat Aboh and Azet Hamtok.