Lok Sabha elections 2024: Voting for six seats in Mumbai, 13 in Maharashtra on May 20; Piyush Goyal, Ujjwal Nikam in fray

Voting in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai and 13 seats in Maharashtra will be held on Monday May 20 in the fifth and last phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 in the stateMore than 246 crore persons are eligible to cast vote and decide the fate of 264 candidates in Mumbai North Mumbai North Central Mumbai North West Mumbai North East Mumbai South Central Mumbai South Thane Kalyan Bhiwandi Palghar Nashik Dindori and Dhule seats according to the PTIUnion ministers Piyush Goyal a BJP candidate from Mumbai North Bharati Pawar Dindori and Kapil Patil Bhiwandi are among the key nominees of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP which has also fielded lawyer Ujjwal Nikam from Mumbai North CentralMaharashtra CM Eknath Shindeled Shiv Senas Shrikant Shinde has been fielded from Kalyan seat and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad is contesting the Lok Sabha elections 2024 from the Mumbai North Central seatVoting will be conducted from 7 am to 6 pm in 24553 polling centres as per the PTIThe main contest is between the ruling Mahayuti comprising the Shiv Sena BJP and NCP and the opposition alliance of the Shiv Sena UBT Congress and NCP SPMumbai Thane and Palghar where 10 of these 13 seats are located form a major part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region one of the most urbanised pockets in the countryAltogether 24669544 persons are eligible to cast vote including 13138526 men 11528278 women and 2740 from the third genderThe Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has fielded its candidates in Mumbai South Mumbai North West and Mumbai South Central seats while the ruling BJP has put up candidates in Mumbai North Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North East constituenciesThe opposition Shiv Sena UBT led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray Thackeray has put up candidates in Mumbai South Mumbai South Central Mumbai North East and Mumbai North West as part of the seatsharing deal with its Maha Vikas Aghadi partners NCP SP and CongressCongress candidates are in the fray in Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North in the metropolisThane and Kalyan where the rival Senas are pitted against each other are prestige battles for CM Shinde as they fall under his political turfCM Shindes close aide Naresh Mhaske and his son Shrikant Shinde are the Shiv Sena nominees in Thane and Kalyan respectivelyThe contest is between BJP and Sena UBT in Palghar while BJP and NCP SP are the main contenders in the textile manufacturing hub of BhiwandiDhule is witnessing a BJP versus Congress fight In Dindori it is BJP versus Sharad Pawarled NCP SP while CM Shindes Shiv Sena and Thackerayheaded Shiv Sena UBT are facing off in NashikThe Mumbai Police will depute nearly 30000 security personnel to ensure smooth voting in the city officials said on SaturdayAt least 2752 officers and 27460 other personnel including from three units of the riot control police will be on bandobast duty on the election day in the metropolis they saidFive officers in the rank of Additional Commissioner of Police 25 Deputy Commissioners of Police DCPs and 77 Assistant Commissioners of Police ACPs will be leading various teams during the bandobast an official saidNearly 5000 policemen 6200 home guards and 36 units of Central Armed Police Force CAPF will also be brought from outside for the voting day he saidOut of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra polling in 35 seats was held in four phases on April 19 April 26 May 7 and May 13Votes will be counted on June 4with PTI inputs