Bhagwat, Pawar, Gadkari vote as polling underway in Maha

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar were among those who cast their vote on Monday morning as polling for the Maharashtra Assembly elections began.

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, led by chief minister Fadnavis, is seeking a second term in the state.

Nearly 8.99 crore voters will decide the fate of 3,237 candidates, including 235 women, across 288 constituencies.

Fadnavis, his wife Amruta and mother Sarita cast their vote in Dharampeth area of Nagpur.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also voted in Nagpur.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, wife Rashmi and sons Aaditya and Tejas Thackeray cast vote in Bandra in Mumbai.

Aaditya, chief of the Sena's youth wing who is making his electoral debut from Worli in Mumbai, visited the famous Siddhivinayak temple in the morning. He is the first member of the Thackeray family to contest an election.

Former chief ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan voted in Solapur and Nanded, respectively.

NCP president Sharad Pawar, former Congress MP Milind Deora as well as Union minister Smriti Irani voted in Mumbai, whereas Union minister Nitin Gadkari voted in Nagpur.

Bollywood personalities Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Naseeruddin Shah were among those who voted in the early hours in Mumbai.

Actor Riteish Deshmukh and his wife Genelia voted in Babalgaon in Latur district along with his family where his brothers Amit and Dhiraj are in the fray as Congress candidates from Latur City and Latur Rural constituencies, respectively.

Riteish took to Twitter and uploaded a picture of his and his wife, writing, "Go exercise your right!! Go Vote!"