Maharashtra polling percentage is 55.37

Mumbai, Apr 18: An average of 55.37 per cent voter turnout was recorded in 10 constituencies of Maharashtra where polling was held in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, an official said.

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.