All parties in Maharashtra want Muslim votes in the Lok Sabha polls, but they have not fielded candidates from the community, All India Majlis and Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said on Monday amid the ongoing elections. of Lok Sabha 2024, news agency PTI reported.
Addressing a rally on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at Amkhas Maidan, Owaisi also said that parties have come together to ensure the defeat of their Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel.
“Political parties are seeking votes from Muslims but could not find candidates from the community for any of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. They are not worried about results elsewhere, but two Shiv Sena, two NCPs and half of the Congress are here to defeat Jaleel,” he said. he stated, PTI reported.
Criticizing Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Chandrakant Khaire, the AIMIM chief said the former used to call himself a Hindutva leader but came to Idgah here after realizing the importance of (Muslim) voters.
“Those whose politics were earlier based on ‘khan ya baan’ (Muslims and Hindus) now talk about namaz,” he said.
Terming Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray as “newly secular”, Owaisi said the former chief minister should clarify his stand on the Babri Masjid demolition and say whether it was a sin or not.
Meanwhile, a voter turnout of 31.55 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in 11 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, where elections were held in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, election authorities said, PTI reported.
According to the data shared by the authorities, Latur recorded 32.71 per cent polling, Sangli 29.65 per cent, Baramati 27.55 per cent, Hathkanangale 36.17 per cent, Kolhapur 38.42 per cent. percent, Madha 26.61 percent, Osmanabad 30.54 percent, Raigad 31.34 percent. Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg 33.91 per cent, Satara 32.78 per cent and Solapur 29.32 per cent, PTI reported.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawar, NCP candidate from Baramati, and his mother Asha Pawar were among the early voters.
They cast their votes at a polling booth in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district, where Sunetra is contesting against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, the sitting MP from Baramati.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, his wife Pratibha Pawar, daughter Supriya Sule and family, MLA Rohit Pawar and family also voted in Baramati.
Actor couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh cast their votes in Latur, while Union Minister Narayan Rane voted in Sindhudurg.
Ritesh Deshmukh is the son of Congress leader and former chief minister of the state, late Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Rane is the BJP candidate from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat.
Voting began at 7 am in all 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Some prominent contenders include royal descendants Shahu Chhatrapati of the Congress in Kolhapur and Udayanraje Bhosale of the BJP in Satara.
A total of 2.09 million people are eligible to vote for 258 candidates in the third phase, an official said.
As many as 23,036 voting centers have been established in the state, he stated.
There are 1,07,64,741 male voters, 1,02,26,946 female voters and 929 of the third gender, the official stated.
(With input from PTI)