Shirdi Assembly Election 2024: The counting of votes in the Maharashtra assembly elections began Saturday morning, with all eyes on the outcome of the battle between the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which is seeking to make a comeback. The counting of votes commenced at 8 am in all the counting centres in the state, an election official said.
At the counting centres, officials first began verifying and counting the postal ballots, with the counting of EVM votes scheduled to start at 8.30 am. There will be a minimum of 20 rounds of counting in each assembly segment, an official said. The final turnout in the polls, held on November 20, was 66.05 per cent, up from 61.1 per cent in 2019.
The Shirdi Assembly constituency is one of the 288 constituencies in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. It is constituency number 218 of the state Legislative Assembly and comes under Ahmednagar district. The constituency is a general seat not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). It is part of the Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency along with another five assembly segments. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Ajit Pawar), Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), NCP (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are the main parties in the state. In the last Assembly election in 2019, BJP's Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil won the Shirdi seat by defeating Thorat Suresh Jagannath of Congress.
Shirdi Constituency Demographic Profile
The assembly segment comes under Ahmednagar district and Shridi Lok Sabha constituency. As per data from the Election Commission, there were 2,63,057 voters in the Shirdi constituency during the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections. Out of this, 1,36,137 voters were male and 1,26,536 were female. 13 voter belonged to the third gender. The number of service voters in Shirdi in 2019 was 371 (364 men and 7 women).
In 2014, the total number of voters in the Shirdi Assembly constituency was 2,50,457. Out of this, 1,30,193 voters were male and 1,19,766 were female. The number of service voters in Shirdi in 2014 was 498 ( 351 men and 147 women).
Shirdi Assembly Constituency Elections 2024: Poll Date
The Shirdi constituency in Maharashtra went into the polls in a single phase on November 20, along with the other 287 constituencies of the state.
Shirdi Assembly Election 2024 Candidates
Under the seat-sharing formula, Shridi comes under the BJP in Mahayuti and Congress in Maha Vikas Aghadi. The BJP has retained Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil as its candidate from the seat while the Congress has fielded Prabhavati J Ghogare. Moreover, Raju Sadik Shaikh is contesting on Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi ticket
Shirdi Assembly Constituency 2019 and 2014 Winners (Candidates and Parties)
In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, BJP's Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil won the Shirdi seat with a massive margin of 87,024 votes. He was polled 1,32,316 votes with a vote share of 70.86 per cent. He defeated Congress candidate Thorat Suresh Jagannath, who got 45,292 votes (24.26%). Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi candidate Kolage Vishal Baban stood third with 5,784 votes (3.1%). The total number of valid votes polled was 1,86,718.
In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, the incumbent Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil won the Shirdi seat on the Congress ticket with a margin of 74,662 votes. He was polled 1,21,459 votes with a vote share of 63.11%. He defeated undivided Shiv Sena's candidate Abhay Dattatraya Shelke Patil, who got 46,797 votes (24.31%). BJP's candidate Rajendra Bhausaheb Gondkar stood third with 17,283 votes (8.98%). The total number of valid votes polled was 1,92,464 .
Shirdi Assembly Constituency Past Winners
1972: Kolhe Shankarrao Genuji (Independent)
1978: Ghogare Chandrabhan Bhausaheb (INC)
1980: Mhaske Annasaheb Sarangdhar (Congress-I)
1985: Mhaske Annasaheb Sarangdhar (Congress)
1990: Mhaske Annasaheb Sarangdhar (Congress)
1995: Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil (Congress)
1999: Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil (Shiv Sena)
2004: Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil (Congress)
2009: Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil (Congress)
2014: Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil (Congress)
2019: Radhakrishna Eknath Rao Vikhe Patil (BJP)
Shirdi Constituency Voter Turnout in 2019 and 2014
Shirdi legislative assembly constituency had a total of 2,63,057 electors in 2019. The total number of valid votes polled in the constituency was 1,86,718 or 70.98 per cent. In 2014, the constituency had a total of 2,50,457 electors. The total number of valid votes polled in the constituency was 1,92,752 or 76.85 per cent.
