Nagpur, April 10 (IANS) An average of 10 percent of the electorate cast their votes within the first two hours, as polling started for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra Thursday morning, officials said.
A few voters were seen outside some polling stations in Akola constituency before the polling started. Long queues were seen in Ramtek and Nagpur constituencies with enthusiastic youth and senior citizens awaiting for their turn.
Akola, with the lowest number of seven candidates, has recorded around 10 percent voting while Ramtek notched eight percent and Nagpur stood at seven percent.
Officials attributed this to the scorching heat in the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra, where afternoon temperatures touch 45 degrees Celsius in some areas.
"Most people prefer to take advantage of the cool morning and evening hours, but most may keep away during afternoon," said an official.
Among the early voters were Bharatiya Janata Party former president Nitin Gadkari, who came with his family to vote in Nagpur city, Congress MP Vilas Muttemwar, and former minister and AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik.
Scores of voters in Amravati constituency, especially the first-timers, were disappointed as their names or photographs were missing from the voters' lists.
Election officials said they would try to rectify the problems and not deny any voter his or her right to vote.
A total of 201 candidates, including 90 Independents, are in the fray for the 10 Lok Sabha seats that have gobne to polls in Vidarbha and around 1.22 crore voters spread across the region will decide their fate.
The candidates include 15 women, including two from the Nationalist Congress Party and the Aam Aadmi Party.
Among the political parties, the maximum number of 10 seats are being contested by Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, followed by the Congress seven and the Bharatiya Janata Party six candidates.
The Shiv Sena, which has an alliance with the BJP, has put up four candidates, the NCP has three candidates and the CPI only one.
Gilchrist praises Sangakkara with hilarious tweet
Melbourne, March 12 (IANS) Former Australian batting star Adam Gilchrist acknowledged wicketkee
Modi to inaugurate Rourkela Steel Plant's modernised units
Bhubaneswar, March 23 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Odisha on April 1 to dedic
India on Tuesday said that it is concerned about the status of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Pla
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to declare the his
On Monday, the bodies of 46 migrants were found in a truck parked on the roadside in Texas, USA.
Will Germany send lethal weapons to Ukraine? Russia said - it is not acceptable
The dispute over Ukraine continues. Now Russia has called Germany's sending of deadly weapons to
In the meeting of the Delhi cabinet, the proposal to include Ayodhya in the Chief Minister's pilg
Indian innovations can help the world: President
New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) Indian innovations and development will not only benefit India but al
Centre pursuing issues of northeast on mission mode: Sitharaman
Aizawl, March 26 (IANS) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the ce
Will Cyclone Montha also affect Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar? IMD provides an update
Cyclone Montha will hit the coast of Andhra Pradesh today, Tuesday, according to the Indian Meteo
