Mumbai: Nearly 74 per cent voting was registered in the gram panchayat elections in Maharashtra on Sunday. The elections in Maharashtra hold importance, especially in the middle of intense political rivalry between the political parties.
Elections are being held for 2,950 posts of gram panchayat members and 130 directly elected sarpanch from 2,068 gram panchayats in the state which had fallen vacant due to reasons such as disqualification, death, resignation etc.
Barring the naxal-affected areas, the counting of votes will be held on November 6, whereas in naxal-affected areas, it will be held on November 7.
These are the first elections after NCP leader Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined hands with the BJP-Shiv Sena government.
The gram panchayat elections in Maharashtra are not fought on any election symbol. The political parties form local level panels or alliances to contest these elections. However, they hold importance, especially in the middle of intense political rivalry between political parties and local leadership.
For Shiv Sena, which has been split into the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde groups, and NCP, which is divided into the Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray factions, these elections hold a major significance to assess their strength in the state politics in view of upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
BJP and Congress workers also see these elections as preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
