Erasing the metropolis’ reputation of being apathetic towards the election process, an impressive 55 per cent of a total 91.8 lakh voters exercised their rights in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls on Tuesday, while the polling registered in nine other municipal corporations ranged from 45 per cent to 67 per cent.
While the 10 municipal Corporations recorded an average of 56.30 per cent polling, the 11 Zilla Parishads and 118 panchayat samitis recorded an average of 9 per cent polling.
With the voter turnout in Mumbai having gone up from 44.74 in the 2012 polls to a record 55 per cent in the 2017 elections, the ruling BJP camp was gung ho about their prospects in the crucial BMC polls, in which the party — headed by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis himself — had taken its ruling alliance partner in the State — Shiv Sena — head on.
Elated by the increased polling percentage in Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted: “Thank you #Mumbai for the record voting percentage & people from all Municipal Corporations & ZP for participating in festival of democracy!”
Incidentally, 55 per cent of polling recorded in Mumbai is the highest percentage of polling registered in Mumbai in the last 25 years.
What came as a shot in the arm for the BJP was the outcome of an exit poll conducted by Axis-My India for India Today showed the BJP might increase its tally in the BMC from 31 in 2012 to the range of 80 to 88 seats in the 2017 polls. The exit poll has said that the Shiv Sena will emerge as the single largest party in the BMC with 86 to 92 seats, as against the 75 seats it had won the 2012 polls.
Notwithstanding the confidence expressed by Mumbai’s BJP president Ashish Shelar that his party will get a majority in the BMC, available pointers suggest that no party – either the Sena or the BJP – will touch the magic majority figure of 114 in the 227-member BMC. If anything, Tuesday’s polls will in all likelihood throw up a hung house.
If the exit poll results are anything to go by, then the BJP will retain power in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and capture power in the NCP-held Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), while the Shiv Sena will retain power in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC). There were no clear pointers as to the exact poll outcome in the municipal corporations of Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Akola, Amravati and Ulhasnagar which also went to polls along with the civic bodies in Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Thane.
Apart from a 10 per cent increase in the polling percentage in Mumbai, the other factor that may contribute to the BJP nearly tripling its seats from 31 to a maximum of 88 seats as forecast by the exit polls are the infighting within the Congress whose 2012 tally of 52 seats may go down to 30-odd seats and eroded strength of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS whose tally may go down from 27 seats to as low as five seats.
If anything, the BJP is expected to increase its seat tally in the BMC because of its organisational strength and the eroded stocks of the Congress and MNS.
It remains to be seen if the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena will re-forge a power-sharing arrangement in the BMC, especially bitter exchange of barbs and trading of charges and counter charges witnessed between the leaders of the two parties during the electioneering.
Given that the country’s commercial capital has witnessed an average of 44 per cent of voter turnout in the BMC polls since 1997, a pleasant surprise awaited the State Election Commission (SEC) which late on Tuesday pegged the polling percentage in Mumbai at 55 per cent.
Similarly, the polling percentages in nine other municipal corporations were as follows: Thane (58), Pune (54) Nagpur (53), Nashik (60), Pimpri-Chinchwad (67), Solapur (60), Akola (56), Amravati (55) and Ulhasnagar (45).
If the voting percentage increased in Mumbai, it was majorly because of an intense voter awareness campaign carried out by the SEC in the run-up to the BMC polls. There was enthusiasm among voters in the metropolis right from the morning. The city registered 16.4 per cent polling by 11. 30 am.
Prominent among those who turned out at the polling stations during the early hours were Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, NCP president Sharad Pawar, his family members, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, his wife Rashmi, son Aditya, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, his wife Sharmila, veteran Sena leader Manohar Joshi, Mumbai’s BJP president Ashish Shelar, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and BJP spokesperson Shaina NC.
While Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his wife Amruta voted in Nagpur, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javdekar exercised their voting rights in Nagpur and Pune respectively.
Among the film personalities and celebrities seen at the polling stations in Mumbai were: Hema Malini, Shahrukh Khan, Rekha, lyricist Gulzar, Tina Ambani, Anushka Sharma, John Abraham, Ranvir Singh, Shraddha Kapoor and Milind Gunaji. The film personalities who were conspicuous by their absence included Aamir Khan, Hritik Roshan, Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Ajay Devgan and Kangana Ranawat, all of whom were either away at their outdoor shootings or out of Mumbai.