According to the figures released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the states of Maharashtra and Haryana recorded a turnout of above 60 per cent each until 6 pm with an interim voter turnout of 60.05 and 65 per cent respectively.
The turnout for both the states is lower compared to the previous assembly elections which could mean the BJP retaining both the states, say psephologists.
The polling began on Monday morning at 7 am for 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra and 90 Assembly seats in Haryana.
Among those who exercised their franchise in Maharashtra were RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Ramdas Athawale, Piyush Goyal, Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, Narayan Rane, Ashok Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde, Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Nawab Malik, Dhananjay Munde, Sunil Tatkare, and Jitendra Awhad.
Celebrities who voted included Sachin Tendulkar, Aamir Khan and wife Kiran, Gulzar and daughter Meghna Gulzar, Salman Khan and father Salim Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Madhuri Dixit, John Abraham, Dia Mirza, Kareena Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Deepika Padukone, Prem Chopra, Govinda, Subhash Ghai, Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Padmini Kolhapure, Vidya Balan, Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Urmila Matondkar and Hema Malini.
In Haryana, the prominent figures in the fray include Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, former Congress CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala, Indian National Lok Dal’s Abhay Singh Chautala, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kiran Choudhary, Ranbir Mahendra, and Kuldeep Bishnoi.
There were reports of minor skirmishes between the supporters of the BJP and the Congress in Rohtak and Bahadurgarh districts.
The counting of votes for both the states will take place on October 24 and results shall be pronounced by Thursday noon.
(With agency inputs)