17.50% voter turnout recorded till 11 pm in Maharashtra

A voter turnout of 17.50 per cent was recorded till 11 am on Monday in Maharashtra assembly elections, according to the Election Commission (EC).

Ratnagiri assembly constituency has so far seen the largest voter turnout with over 62.20 per cent while on the other hand, Nilanga seat has seen the lowest turnout with 6.61 per cent till 11 am.

Elections began on 288 constituencies of Maharashtra at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Counting of votes will be held on October 24.

In Mumbai, 9,894 polling stations have been set up at 1,537 locations. 36 out of 288 seats come in the city where 334 candidates are in the fray. Mumbai has 97.72 lakh registered voters.

BJP and Shiv Sena are contesting 17 and 19 of these seats respectively while the Congress has fielded candidates in 29 seats of the city. Congress ally NCP has pitted candidates on six seats whereas one seat is being contested by Samajwadi party candidate.

Among top contests, all eyes will be on Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray's son Aditya Thackeray who is contesting against his main NCP rival Suresh Mane.

Mumbai BJP President, five-time MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha is up against Congress's Hira N. Devasi in Malabar Hill constituency while Mumbai NCP President Nawab Malik is in the fray against Shiv Sena's Tukaram Kate in Anushakti Nagar.

Overall in the 288-member Assembly, BJP is contesting on 164 seats, which includes candidates of smaller allies contesting on its lotus symbol, while its key ally Shiv Sena has fielded 126 candidates.

On the other hand, Congress has its candidates in 147 constituencies and NCP will contest 121 seats.