Maharashtra to go to polls on 10, 17 and 24 April

In all 78.9 million voters to cast votes, 6 million more compared to 2009 polls

Voting for the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra will take place on April 10, 17 and 24. In all 7,89,66,642 voters, nearly 6 million more compared to 2009 elections, will cast their votes in three phase polling in Maharashtra.

All national and regional parties have already started preparations for elections in Maharashtra, which assumes significance after Uttar Prradesh.

Of the 48 seats, voting will take place for 18 seats on April 10. These seats include Vidarbha (10 seats): Akola, Amravati, Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara -Gondia, Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim, Wardha, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Chandrapur and Marathwada (8 seats) : Nanded, Latur, Beed, Parbhani, Aurangabad, Osmanabad, Hingoli, Jalna.

On April 17, polling will be held for 18 seats including Pune, Baramati, Shirur, Kolhapur, Hatkalangale, Sangli, Satara, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, Nashik, Dindori, Jalgaon, Raver, Dhule, Nandurbar, Maval, Solapur and Madha.

On April 24, voters will cast their votes for 12 seats. The list of these constituencies include Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri-Sundhudurg, Mumbai south, Mumbai south central, Mumbai north central, Mumbai north east, Mumbai north west and Mumbai north.

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is currently accompanying Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi during his two-day Maharashtra visit, told Business Standard, "The Congress party is geared up for the general elections.''

Congress party, which is yet to announce its list of nominees, is contesting 26 seats while its electoral ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 22 seats. NCP has already released a list of 19 of its 22 candidates. Both Congress and NCP are also engaged in exchange of Ragiad, Hingoli and Hatkalangale seats among each others.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that Shiv Sena-BJP-Republican party of India, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Rashtriya Samaj Party alliance is prepared to cash in on anti-incumbency sentiment against Congress-NCP alliance government in Maharashtra. He expected the alliance to win 32-35 seats of the total 48 seats in the state. So far Shiv Sena has released its first list of 15 nominees.

Further, BJP, which is making all efforts to exploit Modi wave in Maharashtra, has already released its first list of 16 candidates.

Aam Aadmi Party has also focused on Maharashtra by reaching out to voters against corruption in the state. AAP's first list of candidates include activist turned politician Medha Patkar.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which had contested 11 seats but failed to win even one in 2009 polls, is yet to disclose its strategy.