Mumbai, June 3 (Reporter) Preparations have been completed for counting votes for the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies on June 4, which has been conducted in five phases in Maharashtra. Counting will start from 8 a.m. onwards on Tuesday. It has been informed through the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer that the system is fully prepared to make this entire process smooth and transparent. Maharashtra, which has the highest number of Lok Sabha seats after Uttar Pradesh's 80, went to the polls on April 19, 26, May 7, 13, and 20. A total of 14507 officers and employees have been appointed in 48 constituencies of the state. A total of 4309 counting tables have been arranged in 289 halls. Adequate police presence has been provided at all polling stations to maintain law and order, they said. A total of 1,01,451 electronic machines (EVMs) were used for five phases of polling in the state, and counting will take place in different locations in the state. There were a total 9.2 crore eligible voters across the states. Of them above 5.70 crore, voters cast their votes. The voting percentage in the 2024 general elections was 61.33 percent, a slight increase from the 60.71 percent recorded in 2019, official data showed. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls saw 1121 candidates in the fray. Trends are likely to start coming in by afternoon and results by 4 p.m.," an official said. Counting personnel will randomly select five EVMS from each assembly segment for VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) checking. In the event that a candidate demands a particular EVM be chosen, it will be done, and one of the voting machines randomly chosen will be dropped. Information and trends would be uploaded on the website of the Election Commission, adding that a control room had been set up at Mantralaya for the media. Several digital hoardings will be set up in different locations at Mantralaya. At the district level, information will be provided after every round of counting," the official said. Union Minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari and several key candidates are in the fray across 48 constituencies of Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections. In Nagpur constituency, union surface minister Nitin Gadkari (BJP) contested the election against Congress Vikas Thackeary. In the North Mumbai constituency, Union Minister Piyush Goel (BJP) contested against social worker and Congress candidate Bhushan Patil. In Jalna Lok Sabha seat, five-time Lok Sabha member in a row and Union Minister of State for Railway Raosahab Danve gave fight to Congress nominee Dr Kalyan Kale. In Beed constituency, Pankaja Munde (BJP), the elder daughter of late mass leader Gopinath Munde, and BJP National Secretary contested the election against Bajrang Sonawane of the NCP-SP. In Baramati constituency, sitting MP and daughter of Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule of NCP-SP contested the election against her sister-in-law, Sunetra Pawar of NCP-AP, who is the wife of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. In Kolhapur constituency, Shivaji Maharaj descendent Shau Maharaj (Cong) contested against Sadashiv Mandalik, sitting MP Shiv Sena. In Mumbai North Central constituency, eminent advocate Ujjwal Nikam of the BJP contested against Varsha Gaikwad (Cong). In Kalyan constituency, Dr. Srikanth Shinde, sitting MP of Shiv Sena and son of chief minister Eknath Shinde, contested the election against Vaishali Darekar of UBT. In Satara constituency, another descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, Udayan Raje Bhosale of the BJP, contested against Shashikant Shinde (NCP-SP). In Bhiwandi, Union Minister Kapil Patil of the BJP contested against Suresh Mathre of the NCP-SP In Raigad constituency, NCP-AP state chief Sunil Tatkare contested against former union minister Anant Gite of UBT. In Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency, MSME Union Minister Narayan Rane Rane of the BJP contested against sitting MP Vinayak Raut of the UBT. While in Akola, the grandson of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and chief of Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi, Adv Prakash Ambedkar, contested against the BJP's Anup Dhotre and Congress nominee Dr. Abay Patil. As per the exit poll prediction, a neck-to-neck fight was seen between the NDA and MVA alliances. Meanwhile, security has been tightened across the state to avoid any untoward incidents after the poll results...////...