Braving the heat, voters from seven Vidarbha seats turned up in large numbers to seal the fate of leaders like Union ministers Nitin Gadkari (BJP), Hansraj Ahir and former state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre in the first phase of the 17th Lok Sabha elections.

The poll average in the region recorded till 5 pm was 55.78 per cent, but with another 60 minutes to close the day and a large number of people waiting in long queues at the polling booths, the election observers said the count in at least three seats would increase by at least 10 percent. The polling average in 2014 was about 65 per cent for the seven seats.