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Billionaires and Bollywood stars lined up outside polling stations along with the common folks on Monday, 29 April, in Mumbai, which recorded 55.11 percent voting, an improvement over the 2014 elections figure of 51.59 percent.
Polling was held in 17 seats in Maharashtra, including all the six constituencies in Mumbai, in the fourth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha alleged that his 'indelible' ink vanished the day of voting after he cleaned his finger with nail polish remover. Jha voted in the South Mumbai constituency.
A galaxy of Bollywood stars, businesspeople and politicians came out to vote. Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Rekha, Paresh Rawal, Aamir Khan, Sonali Bhendre, Kareena Kapoor, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, Chairperson of Reliance Group Anil Ambani were among the people who voted.
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From members of the film fraternity to former Union ministers and sitting MPs, the fourth phase of polling will see a number of high profile face-offs in the six Mumbai constituencies that go to vote on 29 April.
In Mumbai North-Central, the constituency dominated by Marathi-speaking population. Sitting MP Poonam Mahajan will be facing former MP and Congress candidate Priya Dutt.
In Mumbai North, sitting BJP MP Gopal Shetty will face new-entrant Urmila Matondkar, contesting on behalf of the Congress. In 2014, Shetty had defeated Congress' Sanjay Nirupam by about 4.46 lakh votes.
Over 18 lakh voters registered a 53.07 percent voter turnout in 2014 in North Mumbai.
In Mumbai South, Congress Mumbai chief Milind Deora will face a fight from Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant. Deora had lost to Sawant in 2014 by a huge margin of more than 1.28 lakh votes. Sawant was also the first Shiv Sena MP to win the seat since 1952.
In Mumbai North-East, the BJP's Manoj Kotak will be up against the NCP's Sanjay Dina Patil.
In the North-West constituency, sitting Shiv Sena MP Gajanan C Kirtikar and former Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam will be contesting against each other.
Meanwhile, in the Mumbai South-Central constituency, sitting Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale will face-off against former MP Eknath Gaikwad, who is fighting from a Congress ticket.
Polling officials in Mumbai leave for their respective polling stations to set up EVMs and VVPATs for the fourth phase of polling in Mumbai.
Voting begins for six seats in Mumbai.
BJP MP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan casts his vote at a polling booth in Goregaon.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das casts his vote at polling booth number 40 and 41 at Peddar Road.
In Mumbai South, Congress Mumbai chief Milind Deora will face a fight from Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant. Deora had lost to Sawant in 2014 by a huge margin of more than 1.28 lakh votes. Sawant was also the first Shiv Sena MP to win the seat since 1952.
“This is the moment that matters.... Every vote is a voice that counts,” tweets Priyanka Chopra as she exercises her franchise.
Voting is yet to begin at booth number 162 of Malad West in Mumbai after a glitch in EVM was detected.
Speaking to The Quint, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj said that the people should follow their heart as they will make the future.
After casting her vote, Congress candidate Urmila Matondkar appealed to the people of India to come out and vote in large numbers.
“I appeal to the people of this country to come out and vote in large numbers. I want to say that it is about the future of their country so they should come out and vote,” Matondkar said.
Speaking to The Quint, Congress’ North-West constituency candidate Sanjay Nirupam said that I have voted for the “most accessible and hard-working candidate”, adding that’s why “I have voted for myself”.
Speaking to The Quint, Congress’ candidate from Mumbai South said that in 2014 elections there was a Modi wave but this time there is no such thing. He also added that the people are fed up of the government because of GST and demonetisation.
“Today when we [Congress] are talking about education and healthcare, they [BJP] is talking about polarisation. This means they have not been able to help people develop,” Deora said.
He also said that the people should vote for their candidate this time.
Speaking to the media after casting his vote in Mumbai's Vile Parle, BJP MP Paresh Rawal said, “We should all vote, we will be known as idiots if we don’t vote and we have no right to complain if we don't vote.”
Responding to a question about winning the polls, Rawal said, “We are more than 100 percent sure of winning.”
Bollywood actos Ajay Devgn and Kajol have cast their vote in Mumbai.
Speaking to the media after casting his ballot, film-maker Subhash Ghai said that mindset of a person is most important for voting, development and other things will follow.
Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha has alleged that his indelible ink vanished after he cleaned his finger with nail polish remover. Similar allegations were made by voters during the earlier phases of polling.
Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray, his wife Rashmi Thackeray and son Aditya Thackeray voted at a polling booth in Gandhi Nagar, Mumbai.
Poonam Mahajan BJP's candidate from Mumbai North Central LS seat also present.
Speaking to the media after casting his vote, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, “This election is now a Tsunami election. north, south, east and west, Modi wave has overtaken the country. PM Modi is the tallest leader today in the country.”
Speaking to the media after casting her vote, Hema Malini said, “These elections are very important for India and taking part in this election is very important for them.”
After casting their vote today, Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar and Veteran actor Shabana Azmi, appealed people to step out and vote. Singer Kailash Kher, who has also casted his vote, asked people to step out and vote with a song he has written, urging people exercise their democratic right.
40.08 percent voter turnout was recorded till 3 pm in Maharashtra's 17 seats on Monday as polling for the fourth and last phase of Lok Sabha elections is underway.
Long queues were seen in some areas of Mumbai like Powai and Chanidwali as voting was being recorded slowly.
The situation was different outside Mumbai where turnout has been high.
However, local election officers had to issue clarifications on rumours ranging from withdrawal of a candidate to technical glitches, said an ECI official.
So far, Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency in north Maharashtra has recorded the highest polling at 51.96 percent while Kalyan constituency near Mumbai saw the lowest voter turnout of 33.77 percent, according to an official statement.
The voting figures till 3 pm in other constituencies are as follows: Dhule- 40.63 per cent, Dindori- 46.13 per cent, Nashik- 41.72 per cent, Palghar- 46.77 per cent, Bhiwandi- 39.35 per cent, Thane- 38.52 per cent, Mumbai North- 44.65 per cent, Mumbai North West- 40.53 per cent, Mumbai North East- 43.12 per cent, Mumbai North Central- 39.84 per cent, Mumbai South Central- 41.09 per cent, Mumbai South- 38.76 per cent, Maval- 42.32 per cent, Shirur- 41.48 per cent and Shirdi- 45.48 per cent.
As many as 3.11 crore voters spread across the Mumbai metropolitan region and northern and western Maharashtra are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 323 candidates in the fray in these 17 seats.
Around 40 polling booths in these constituencies, including 26 in suburban Mumbai, are being managed women.
Chairman of Mahindra group Anand Mahindra today said that whosoever comes to power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections, including a coalition government, must work for growth and development.
"We all have been infected by the virus of progress and growth. Even if a coalition government comes to power, it should work towards progress and growth," Mahindra said after casting his vote at a booth in Malabar Hill in the Mumbai South parliamentary constituency which went to the polls in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday.
Not belying expectations, tribals and villagers in far-flung hamlets in the state 'out-voted' cool Mumbaikars, business and glamour world personalities in the fourth and final phase of voting for 17 Lok Sabha constituencies on Monday.
While thousands of tribals patiently standing in serpentine queues, especially in Nandurbar, Dhule, Palghar remained virtually cut-off from the electronic media, the limelight was on around 200 big names from the business, sports and glamour world.
The rural folk exercised their votes without any fanfare despite the blistering heat, but Mumbai's big personalities were virtually mobbed - as they stepped out of their cool homes into pre-chilled vehicles, cast their votes mostly without queuing up, walking out exhibiting the indelible marked finger, smiling and "byting" out homilies before daintily departing in their deluxe cars.
Prominent people of the city are concerned by the low turnout trends in the country's economic powerhouse and even certain other urban centres and attribute it to several factors.
Balloons and colourful rangolis welcomed voters at some of the polling booths across the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra where polling is underway in the fourth and final phase today.
As part of an initiative by the Election Commission of India to make polling a pleasant experience, certain booths were selected in every Lok Sabha constituency for decoration with local help.
"The whole idea is to make voting a pleasant experience. We cannot put pandals due to several restrictions, but using colours and rangolis would bring some relief to voters, who wait for hours in scorching heat to exercise their right," an ECI official said.
Voting is underway at Nandurbar, Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai-North, Mumbai-North West, Mumbai-North East, Mumbai-North Central, Mumbai-South Central, Mumbai- South, Maval, Shirur and Shirdi.
Maharashtra has recorded 49.64% voter turnout by 5 pm in the fourth phase of polling today, 29 April. Of the six seats in Mumbai, Mumbai North has the highest voter turnout at 31.75%.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his family after casting their votes at a polling booth at Villa Theresa High School on Peddar Road.
A large number of first-time voters came out to cast their ballots today in Mumbai, marking their formal participation in choosing the next government in the world's largest democracy.
According to the Election Commission (EC) data, Maharashtra has over 1.19 crore voters who fall in the age group of 18-19 years and are eligible to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha polls for the first time.
Enthusiasm was palpable among first-time electors, who openly expressed their views about candidates in the fray and whom they voted for.
The Congress today made 30 complaints to the Election Commission about alleged glitches in EVMs across the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra where polling is underway.
A majority of the complaints came in from Dhule and Nandurbar, the party said, prompting ally NCP's state chief Jayant Patil to claim that something was "fishy" in the two seats.
"Complaints have been made to Election Commissioner, Chief Electoral Officer and other authorities concerned via e-mail," the Congress said in a statement.
Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora today congratulated the Election Commission of India for peacefully conducting elections in the metropolis.
In a statement, Deora, the Congress' Mumbai South Lok Sabha candidate, also appreciated the efforts of the Mumbai police and other security personnel deployed for poll duty.
"The voters are the real heroes of this election and I thank them for strengthening our democracy today. On behalf of the Mumbai Congress, I congratulate the Election Commission for peacefully conducting elections in Mumbai," he said.
Actor Anushka Sharma, who cast her vote in an all-women "sakhi" polling booth in Versova, part of the Mumbai North West parliamentary constituency, was pleasantly surprised to get a kokam sharbat and a sanitary napkin packet.
As part of an Election Commission initiative to encourage women voters and honour women power, "sakhi" polling booths, staffed entirely by women officials, have been set up in which women voters are given a sanitary napkin packet and kokam juice post voting, an official said.
Mumbai may have registered an unimpressive voting percentage Monday, but its residents can take solace from at least one thing — they outdid Pune.
Against 49.84 percent turnout in Pune on 23 April, Mumbai registered a marginally better 51.11 percent voting Monday.
The rivalry between Mumbai, the biggest city of Maharashtra, and Pune, the state's ‘cultural capital', is old.
"Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai" , a hit Marathi rom-com with two sequels, exploits popular tropes about cultural differences between the two cities.
The overall percentage in the 17 seats when polling ended at 6 pm was 55.97 percent, compared to 55.72 percent in these seats during the 2014 elections, poll officials said.
For all the 48 seats in Maharashtra, the percentage this time was 60.68, almost similar to that in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which saw 60.32 percent polling, they said.
Polling was held in 17 seats in Maharashtra, including all the six constituencies in Mumbai, in the fourth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state.
The 17 seats were spread across Mumbai metropolitan region and parts of northern and western Maharashtra, having 3.11 crore voters and 323 candidates.
Published: 29 Apr 2019,06:05 AM IST