Moderate to very high voter turnout was recorded today in the polling for four seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
Three of the seats saw a fight between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, who are ruling allies in Maharashtra and also at the Centre.
Polling was by and large peaceful and no untoward incident was reported during the voting for the Mumbai Graduates, Mumbai Teachers, Konkan Graduates and Nashik Teachers' constituencies of the Upper House, which was falling vacant next month, said Election Commission officials.
The Nashik Teachers' constituency recorded the highest voter turnout of 92.30 per cent followed by the Mumbai Teachers' constituency (83.26 per cent) and the Konkan Graduates' constituency (73.89 per cent), they said.
The Mumbai Graduates constituency recorded the lowest voter turnout among all the seats at 53.23 per cent, the officials said.
Such constituencies came into existence after the formation of Maharashtra in 1960 when literacy rate was low and lawmakers felt the need of educated people getting into the Upper House and taking part in making legislations.
Also Read
The term of sitting members - Deepak Sawant (of Shiv Sena - Mumbai Graduates), Kapil Patil (of the Lok Bharati party - Mumbai Teachers), Niranjan Davkhare (who switched over from the NCP to the BJP - Konkan Graduates) and Apoorva Hire (an independent - Nashik Teachers) - ends on July 7.
The ruling alliance partners in Maharashtra, the BJP and the Shiv Sena, clashed in the Mumbai Graduates, Konkan Graduates and Mumbai Teachers' constituencies.
Besides, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) and the Lok Bharti Party are also in fray in the four seats, making it a tough contest for all candidates.
In the Mumbai Graduates' seat, Amit Mehta of the BJP is pitted against Shiv Sena's Vilas Potnis. The Congress and the NCP have extended their support to PWP candidate Rajendra Korde in the seat, where 14 nominees are in fray.
The Shiv Sena has denied ticket to Deepak Sawant, the state health minister, from the Mumbai Graduates' constituency which he represented for two consecutive terms.
In the Mumbai Teachers' constituency, sitting MLC Kapil Patil is facing a tough challenge from BJP's Anil Deshmukh and Shiv Sena's Shivaji Shendge.
In the Konkan Graduates' seat, sitting MLC Niranjan Davkhare, who quit the NCP last month to join the BJP, is pitted against Sena's Sanjay More. The NCP has fielded Najeeb Mulla, who has support of the Congress and some other parties.
As many as 22 candidates contested from the seat.
In the Nashik Teachers' constituency, BJP's Aniket Patil, the son of former Union minister and Congress leader Vijay Patil, is pitted against 23 independents. The NCP is supporting independent candidate Sandeep Bedse.
A graduates' constituency is one in which only graduates from any recognised Indian university, or having an equivalent qualification, can vote.
In a teachers' constituency, only a full-time teacher in at least a secondary school or higher is eligible to vote.
The Konkan Graduates' constituency consists of districts of Thane, Palghar, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Raigad.
In Thane, voters waded through rainwaters to reach polling stations.
The Nashik Teachers' constituency saw voter participation from five districts - Nashik, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandurbar.
Ninety-four polling stations were set up in the constituency where the number of eligible voters stood at 53,335, including 12,923 women.
Barring an altercation between supporters of two candidates - Sandeep Bedse and Kishor Darade -- voting was peaceful in the Nashik Teachers' constituency.
In the 78-member Legislative Council, 31 MLCs are elected by MLAs 21 by local authorities, 12 are nominated by the governor and seven each (total 14) are elected by graduates and teachers.
The results will be declared on June 28.
The next round of elections for the Upper House will be held on July 16 when 11 seats will be at stake.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content