Ls polls: 8.8 pc voter turnout in Maha in 2 hours

An average 8.6 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am in 10 constituencies of Maharashtra where polling was underway in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, an official said.

According to the state election office, Parbhani Lok Sabha seat recorded 9.3 per cent voting in the first two hours, while it was 8.88 per cent in Nanded.

Besides, Latur recorded 8.41 per cent, followed by Hingoli-7.94 per cent, Osmanabad-7.9 per cent, Buldhana-7.7 per cent, Akola-7.6 per cent per cent, Beed-7.55 per cent, Solapur-6.87 per cent and Amravati-6.4 per cent.

In Nanded, there were complaints of malfunctioning of 78 electronic voting machines (EVMs).

A total of 179 candidates are in the fray in the 10 constituencies.

Beed constituency has the maximum number of 36 contestants while 10 candidates are contesting from Latur.

Prominent candidates in the fray are senior Congress leaders and former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushilkumar Shinde, who are contesting from Nanded and Solapur seats, respectively.

In Beed, the home constituency of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, his daughter Pritam is seeking another term. She is facing Bajrang Sonawane of the NCP.

In the 2014 elections, the NDA won 8 out of these 10 seats, whereas the Congress won two seats - Nanded and Hingoli.

A total of 62,700 EVMs (37,850 ballot units and 24,850 control units) and around 27,000 VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines are in place for the second phase.