A turnout of 58.22 per cent was registered till 5pm during polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly on Wednesday, with urban areas refusing to shed their apathy for voting despite measures by the poll panel.

The elections were held against the backdrop of cash-for-vote allegations against a key BJP leader and a counter-allegation that two Opposition leaders had attempted to encash Bitcoins to influence voters.

The voting percentage is expected to increase following the final tabulation of voters who were lined up at polling stations before poll hours ended. In the last Maharashtra elections in 2019, the voter turnout was 61.4 per cent.

Disinterest among urban voters showed no signs of ebbing with Mumbai recording a turnout of just 49 per cent till 5pm. “Despite a range of measures by the commission for ease of voting, and motivational campaigns, urban voters in the state continued their dismal record of low participation in cities like Mumbai, Pune and Thane,” the Election Commission said. In contrast, the Maoist-affected district of Gadchiroli witnessed the highest voter turnout of 69.63 per cent.

On the eve of polling, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde was accused of luring voters with cash, while the ruling combine alleged that NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule and the Congress’s Nana Patole had attempted to influence the elections through illegal Bitcoins.

Tawde was gheraoed by Bahujan Vikas Aghadi party workers inside a hotel under the Palghar Assembly segment on Tuesday and was accused of distributing cash for votes. As the Opposition went all out to corner the BJP over the cash distribution charges, the saffron party launched a damage-control exercise. Late on Tuesday evening, the BJP used purported audio clips to accuse NCP MP Sule and Maharashtra Congress chief Patole of trying to encash Bitcoins to influence the elections.

“The audio clips have unmasked the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders and they should come out and clarify,” BJP spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters.

Sule came out to claim that the voice notes linked to Patole appeared to be artificial intelligence-generated. “The BJP made false allegations and I have already filed defamation cases. It is unfortunate that people are using technology with malicious intent,” Sule told reporters in Baramati.

An independent fact-check website, boomlive.in, claimed that three out of the four audio clips were AI-generated.