Baramati Bypoll Sees 20.59% Voter Turnout Till 11 AM

Baramati recorded a 20.55 per cent voter turnout till 11 am on Thursday, election officials said.

A total of 79,178 voters have cast their votes so far out of 3,84,579 eligible voters, they added.

Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm.

Who are the candidates?

Bypoll to the Baramati Assembly seat in Pune district was necessitated by the death of then Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) head Ajit Pawar in an air crash on January 28.

His wife, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Sunetra Pawar, and 22 other candidates are in the fray.

Meanwhile, Sunetra Pawar has urged voters to support her as a tribute to her late husband.

There is no candidate in the fray from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) against Sunetra Pawar. The Congress had fielded Akash More against Sunetra Pawar, but withdrew his candidature at the last moment  

Arrangements made:

Election officials in Baramati said elaborate arrangements have been made to facilitate the smooth conduct of the polling.

"To ensure that the scorching heat does not dampen the spirit of voters, we have installed mandaps (sheds) outside polling booths, and water coolers have been placed to ensure access to drinking water," an official said.

(With PTI inputs)