Moderate turnout in early polling

Voting began on a low key note but picked up as the day progressed with voters lining up before polling stations.

Barring a Naxals-police clash in Vidarbha region, balloting for 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and by-polls to four Lok Sabha and 39 Vidhan Sabha seats in 16 states was peaceful with an estimated 10 per cent of voters exercising their franchise in the first two hours on Wednesday.

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Voting began on a low key note but picked up as the day progressed with voters lining up before polling stations to participate in the democratic process.

In Maharashtra, an estimated seven per cent of the 6.59 crore electorate voted in the first two hours in 35 districts amidst tight security.

Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and his wife Ujjawala, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan and industrial tycoon Anil Ambani and his wife Tina were among the early voters.

Bollywood personalities were also not behind with filmmaker Pooja Bhat and lyricist Gulzar exercising their franchise in Mumbai.

In Naxal-infested Gadchiroli district in Vidarbha, a skirmish between insurgents and police left a policeman injured at Binagunda.