MUMBAI: Mumbai voted enthusiastically as a number of Bollywood stars and business tycoons queued up to cast their votes in the fourth phase of polls. However, 11 out of the 17 constituencies which went to the polls witnessed a lower turnout than 2014, which has made the saffron camp jittery.
A low voting percentage means a close contest in some high-profile constituencies such as Bhiwandi, Thane, Kalyan, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai South, Mawal, Shirur and Shirdi (SC), said a senior BJP leader. This means Union Minister of State for Defence Dr Subhash Bhamre in Dhule (BJP), Kapil Patil in Bhiwandi (BJP), Manoj Kotak in Mumbai North-East (BJP), Poonam Mahajan in Mumbai North-Central (BJP) and Arvind Sawant in Mumbai South (Shiv Sena) among others are likely to face a close contest. The contest appears to be wide open in Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-Central and Mumbai South.
While Mumbai recorded a 55.11 per cent voting, an improvement over the 2014 elections figures of 51.59 per cent, the overall percentage in the 17 seats when polling ended at 6 pm was 55.86 per cent, compared to 55.72 per cent in these seats during the 2014 elections, poll officials said.
The enthusiasm in Mumbai was particularly visible in middle and upper-middle-class localities, so much so that long queues were seen at several polling stations. Braving the scorching heat and humidity, residents of Kandivali (East) came out to votes and queues stretched to around two km.
No untoward incidents were reported from anywhere and voting remained peaceful, ECI official said. However, at some places, voters complained that their names were missing from the voters’ list.
The voting percentage in tribal constituencies also remained high in Maharashtra. Gadchiroli, which went to vote in the first phase on April 11, had registered 72 per cent voting, while Nandurbar, Dindori and Palghar constituencies that went for the poll on Monday have registered over 60 per cent voting till 6 pm and is expected to rise more as the details come in from all polling centres.
All the four tribal constituencies were won by the BJP in 2014 but Palghar was left for Shiv Sena in 2019 as part of the pre-election alliance pact of the two parties. In 2009, Nandurbar had registered 52.61% polling which rose to 66.63% when the constituency saw a major shift and elected BJP candidate Dr Heena Gavit instead of a Congress candidate. This year till 6 pm 68.05% voters had been cast.
Polling at a glance
Polling was held in 17 seats in Maharashtra, including all the six constituencies in Mumbai, in the final phase of LS polls in the state. The 17 seats were spread across Mumbai metropolitan region and parts of northern and western Maharashtra