MUMBAI: Over 49% voting was recorded in the fifth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections for 13 seats in Maharashtra on Monday. According to the ECI, the scheduled caste reserved Dindori constituency witnessed the highest 57.07% voting. The lowest at 41.07% voting was reported from the Kalyan seat where Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son Dr Shreekant Shinde is a candidate.
As per EC, Bhiwandi reported 49.43% voting, Dhule (57.06%), Kalyan, 46.91% in North Mumbai, 47.46% in Mumbai North Central, 49.79% in Mumbai North West, 43.63% in South Mumbai, 48.80% in Mumbai South central, 51.16% in Nasik, 54.31% in Palghar, and 48.4% in Thane.
A technical glitch in EVMs was reported resulting in long queues of voters before polling booths.
Opposition parties slammed the EC for pathetic services at several booths. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray said on X: “An agency that boasts about one nation, one poll cannot conduct an election process that is smooth in even one constituency, forget the entire city. Citizens have complained about heat, suffocation in booths, possibly purposeful slow voting.
There were no separate queues for senior citizens and pregnant women at many booths. The absence of fans, water and shade angered the citizens at many places. “We Mumbaikars stepped out to vote, but your pathetic management, including purposeful voter suppression methods, tried to keep us away from booths,” said a voter. Industrialists and Bollywood personalities came out for voting in their constituencies. Several videos went viral on social media which showed people standing in queues in scorching heat.
Uddhav Thackeray criticised the poll panel, saying “people were standing in the queue in the scorching heat. Arrangements were lacking for senior citizens. The system and services were discouraging for the voters. It was not expected from the EC,” he said.
Shinde voted along with his family members at a booth in Thane, which is his political turf. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said he requested the EC to look into complaints about a slow pace of voting in Mumbai.