LS Polls: Maharashtra to vote in five phases from April 19-May 20

Mumbai: The 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra will vote in five phases from April 19 to May 20 during the peak summer and vacation season, the Election Commission of India announced in Delhi on Saturday.

The first and smallest phase will be held on April 19 for five parliamentary seats, while the final and biggest phase will be conducted on May 20 for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, with two phases scheduled in April and three phases in May.

The inaugural phase on April 19 will see voting in Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli-Chimur, and Chandrapur LS constituencies.

The second phase will see polling in eight seats on April 26 -- Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded, and Parbhani.

The third phase of voting will take place on May 7 in 11 LS constituencies, including Raigad, Baramati, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, and Hatkanangale.

The fourth phase will see polling in 11 seats on May 13 -- Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), Maval, Pune, Shirur, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, and Beed.

The final phase of voting will take place on May 20 in 13 seats -- Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central, and Mumbai South.

The counting of votes will be taken up simultaneously for all the 48 seats in Maharashtra along with the rest of the country on June 4, the ECI said.