Maharashtra: CM Eknath Shinde joins birthday celebration of 5-year-old in Kolhapur

Kolhapur (Maharashtra) [India], April 28 (ANI): Chief Minister Eknath Shinde joined the birthday celebration of a 5-year-old boy in Anantpuram Society in Kolhapur.
The Chief Minister was in the area for other engagements following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Kolhapur on Saturday but made time to celebrate with the young child in the Bapat Camp area of the district.
The birthday boy, Ridhan Charla, was having his fifth birthday on Saturday and had a unique request: he wanted the Chief Minister to join in his celebration. His parents, moved by their son's wish, approached CM Shinde, who readily agreed to the request.
Earlier on April 28, addressing a rally in Kolhapur, PM Modi said that Kolhapur is called the football hub of Maharashtra.
"Kolhapur is called the football hub of Maharashtra. Football is very popular among the local youth here. If I speak to you in Football terminology, yesterday after the completion of the second phase, BJP-NDA is leading 2-0," PM Modi said.
CM Shinde took to social media platform X, and said, "My association with Kolhapur is not only for elections... a pregnant woman was trapped during the floods in Kolhapur. At that time, we along with workers went to the spot and rescued the pregnant woman and took her to a safe place. On this occasion, it was mentioned that people have been helped for 12 days continuously in this unprecedented crisis in Kolhapur."
Notably, on July 27, 2019, the Mahalaxmi Express, a Mumbai-Kolhapur train, was stranded near Badlapur due to flooded tracks caused by heavy rains.
The Election Commission on Saturday said the revised voter turnout in eight Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra where polls were held on April 26 was 59.63 per cent.
Voting was held in Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha and Yavatmal-Washim seats in Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) and Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in the central Marathwada region on Friday.
While on April 19, five seats in eastern Vidarbha - Nagpur, Ramtek, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia and Gadchiroli-Chimur - went to polls, registering a voter turnout of 63.70 per cent.
Meanwhile, Kolhapur, Raigad, Baramati, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituencies are going to vote in the third phase of Lok Sabha 2024 on May 7.
The rest of Maharashtra seats will go to polls on May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. Like the rest of the country, votes will be counted on June 4.
Maharashtra, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the Lower House of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.
The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four. Following the split in the Shiva Sena 2022, the Eknath Shinde faction aligned with the BJP. (ANI)