Over 9.2 crore people in Maharashtra will be eligible to exercise their right to vote for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state in five phases between April 19 and May 20. As per data shared by the state election commission, the number of voters in the state has increased by 34.69 lakh in the past five years. While there were a total of 8.85 crore voters in the state in 2019, which included 2,406 transgenders — the number of voters in the state has increased to 9.20 crore — including 5,559 transgender voters — till March 2024. "The voter registration programme is still underway. Therefore, applications of eligible citizens who have not been registered as voters that are received 10 days prior to the last date of candidates filing their nominations will be included in voter list no. 6. Continuous efforts are being made by the Election Commission of India to update the voter list," state election commissioner S Chockalingam said while announcing the model code of conduct in the state. Replying to a question on Marathas calling to file multiple nominations for the Lok Sabha polls from every village in the state, Chockalingam said, “The current EVMs have a limit of 400 candidates each, however if the candidature exceeds that, then the elections will be held using ballot paper or sheet. In case of such a situation the EC may take an appropriate decision on the same.” Meanwhile, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders criticised the Election Commissioner for holding polls in the state in five phases, stating it was “unnecessary” to stretch elections in the state. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut welcomed the declaration of the Lok Sabha poll schedule and said the Maha Vikas Aghadi was ready for it."We only want the Election Commission to ensure free and fair polls," he said. On Maharashtra going to polls in five phases, Raut said several new things were happening under the current regime. NCP(SP) state president Jayant Patil said, “What was the reason for stretching the polls in five phases in Maharashtra? There was no need for five phases," Patil said. While Jayant Patil said that three phases were sufficient for voting to 48 seats in Maharashtra and questioned what the government or Election Commission were trying to achieve by enforcing five phases, VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar termed it as injustice and said that "two phases were sufficient for the voting to 48 seats of the state." EVM-VVPAT will be used in all Lok Sabha constituencies' elections in Maharashtra. For this, 2.47 lakh ballot units, 1.45 lakh control units and 1.53 lakh VVPATs will be used in the state.
