Maharashtra Bypoll Updates: Voting Underway for Kasba Peth, Pimpri Chinchwad as Sena-BJP & MVA Eye Victory; Shops Closed

Maharashtra by-poll updates: Amid the ongoing political tussle in Maharashtra, voting for Kasba Peth and Pimpri Chinchwad by-polls began on Sunday morning. Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena-BJP and the Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance backed by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, will lock horns in this battle of prestige.

The elections were called due to the deaths of MLAs Mukta Tilak of Kasba Peth and Laxman Jagtap of Pimpri-Chinchwad. Shops and outlets within a 100-metre radius of polling booths will remain closed on Sunday under section 144.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, state Congress president Nana Patole, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and others campaigned in both constituencies over the last ten days.

Here are key updates:

• Voting began for bypolls for Kasba Peth and Pimpri Chinchwad seats at 7 on Sunday morning. There are 2,75,428 and 5,68,954 registered voters in Kasba and Chinchwad constituencies, respectively.
• The Kasba Assembly constituency in Pune city will witness a contest between the BJP’s Hemant Rasane and Congress’s Ravindra Dhangekar, backed by the MVA alliance.
• Chinchwad will see a contest between Ashwini Jagtap of the BJP and Nana Kate of the NCP. It is an industrial township near Pune city.
• Notably, the Uddhav-led faction of the Shiv Sena is not contesting in either seats but Aaditya Thackeray was doing roadshows with MVA leaders till last Thursday. At the same time, Shinde and Fadnavis were seen doing door-to-door campaigning till the last day.
• On Saturday, Maharashtra Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis refuted allegations the BJP was distributing money to win the by-poll in Kasba in the Pune district. Earlier, Ravindra Dhangekar had gone on a hunger strike claiming the BJP distributed money to voters. He ended the strike after police assured they would investigate the matter.
• Devendra Fadnavis said, “The BJP does not have the culture of distributing money. Whether we win or lose, we never distribute money. When someone is losing ground they make such allegations. We are winning in Kasba and Chinchwad.”
• Counting of votes for Pimpri Chinchwad and Kasba Peth bypolls will take place on March 2.

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