Maharashtra gears up for decisive third phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 7

The 13 seats that will see voting on May 20 are Dhule, Dindori, Nashik in North Maharashtra and Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central and Mumbai South.As on May 2.

The machinery is fully geared up for conducting the third phase of Lok Sabha polls on 11 seats in Maharashtra on May 7, the state's chief electoral officer S Chockaligam said on Friday.

More than 2.9 crore persons are eligible to vote for 258 candidates in the third phase, for which 23,036 polling centres have been set up, he said.

Since the enforcement of the code of conduct in March, cash, drugs, liquor, expensive items etc cumulatively worth Rs 530.69 crore have been seized, the CEO informed.

''This comprises Rs 49.95 crore cash, liquor worth Rs 36.80 crore, drugs worth Rs 220.65 crore and expensive items valued at Rs 129.89 crore,'' he said.

The 11 seats on which polls will take place on May 7 are Raigad, Baramati, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hathkanangale.

Prominent contestants include Supriya Sule and sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar in Baramati, royal scions Shahu Chhatrapati of the Congress in Kolhapur and BJP's Udayanraje Bhosale in Satara as well Union minister Narayan Rane in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.

There are 1,07,64,741 male voters, 1,02,26,946 female voters and 929 from the third gender, the official said.

In the fourth phase on May 13, a total of 2.28cr voters will decide the fate of 298 candidates in Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Maval, Pune, Shirur, Ahmednagar, Shirdi and Beed.

Prominent candidates in the fourth phase include minister of state for railways Raosaheb Danve in Jalna and BJP's Pankaja Munde in Beed.

Friday was the last day for filing nomination for the fifth phase and scrutiny will take place a day later. The 13 seats that will see voting on May 20 are Dhule, Dindori, Nashik in North Maharashtra and Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central and Mumbai South.

As on May 2. a total of 2, 173 candidates have filed their papers. These include Union minister Piyush Goyal, lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, both of the BJP, as well as Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.