An Independent candidate, Balasaheb Shinde, from the Beed constituency, died due to a heart attack while awaiting his turn to vote at a polling station in Maharashtra on Wednesday, according to the police. He was taken to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
According to a report by NDTV, Balasaheb Shinde collapsed at the Chhatrapati Shahu Vidyalaya voting center in Beed. He was rushed to Kaku Nana Hospital in Beed and later transferred to Chhatrapati Shambhaji Nagar Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. The police confirmed that his body has been transferred for a post-mortem examination.
Under Section 52 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, if a candidate passes away during an election, voting in the affected constituency can be deferred.
The Beed assembly seat, once a stronghold of Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is now contested by factions led by Ajit Pawar, who has allied with the BJP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, following the NCP split.
In Maharashtra, the electoral battle is primarily between the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance (including Ajit Pawar's NCP and Eknath Shinde's Sena) and the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition (comprising Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Sena, and Sharad Pawar's NCP). Voting took place across 288 constituencies, with the results set to be announced on November 23.
A total of 4,136 candidates contested across 288 constituencies as the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition's MVA engaged in a fierce electoral battle.
In a separate incident, BJP MLA Pratap Adsad's sister was attacked with a knife by two persons in Maharashtra's Amravati district. The incident took place at around 8 pm on Monday, the last of campaigning for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Adsad, the legislator from Dhamangaon Railway constituency, is seeking reelection from the seat. His sister Archana Rothe was going in a car and had stopped midway when two persons came from behind and attacked her at Satefal Fata, Amravati Rural Superintendent of Police Vishal Anand told PTI.
She received three wounds on her left arm, the police officer said, adding that a police team reached the spot. A probe was on into the incident, he added.
