In a clear indication of voter apathy resulting in more than three per cent drop in the polling percentage from the 2014 election, an estimated 60.46 per cent of 8.98 crore registered voters on Monday exercised their franchise in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.
On a day when the exit polls predicted a clear victory for the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the polls, the voters across Maharashtra were not as enthusiastic as they were in the 2014 Assembly polls when 63.08 per cent of the total electorate had turned out to vote.
Even in Mumbai which had registered a respectable 52 per cent of polling 2014 polls, there considerable drop in the polling, despite fervent appeals made to people by senior political leaders, Bollywood personalities and cricketers to turn out and vote in large numbers.
Karvir constituency in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra recorded the highest polling percentage of 84.05, followed by Kagal in Kolhapur district (82.50 per cent), Shirala in Sangli district (78.97 per cent) and Shahuwadi (78.87). Ulhasnagar constituency in Thane district recorded the lowest polling percentage of 38.22, followed Ambernath also in Thane district (39.71 per cent), Versova constituency in north-west Mumbai (41.59 per cent) and Colaba in south Mumbai (46.20 per cent).
The polling began on a relatively dull note and picked up pace in most parts of the State during the afternoon. However, in Mumbai — a city that is long known for its voter-apathy, the polling remained dull all through the day.
Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood personalities turned out in large numbers and tried to pep up enthusiasm among the voters in the metropolis. Several of them made appeals to the voters to turn out and exercise their rights. Sachin Tendulkar cast his vote at the Bandra West constituency along with wife Anjali and their son Arjun.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, his wife Rashmi, elder son and Yuv Sena chief Aditya and younger son Tejas exercised their franchise at booth near their Bandra residence. Aditya is contesting the Assembly polls from Worli constituency from Mumbai south-central constituency.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who led the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance campaign in the state, cast his vote along with wife and mother in Dharmpeth area in Nagpur. He is contesting from Nagpur South West Assembly constituency.
NCP founder-president Sharad Pawar, who led the Congress-NCP campaign in Maharastra, exercised his franchise from a polling station at Tardeo in south Mumbai. His daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule exercised her franchise from in her home town of Baramati.Union Minister Piyush Goyal cast his vote from the Malabar Hill constituency.
Other bigwigs like RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Ramdas Athawale and Piyush Goyal cast their votes at different places in Maharashtra.
Other politicians like Raj Thacekray, Narayan Rane and Chandrakant Patil, Eknath Khadse, State and Central Ministers voted along with their families and appealed to people to step out of their homes and cast their votes.
Among other politicians who voted were: Ashok Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde, Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Vijay Wadettiwar, Sachin Sawant, Nationalist Congress Party’s leaders Sharad Pawar, nephew Ajit Pawar, daughter Supriya Sule, Nawab Malik, Dhananjay Munde, Sunil Tatkare, Jitendra Awhad, and other heavyweights.
The film personalities made their presence felt at the voting booths across the Mumbai. They included: Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran, Gulzar and daughter Meghna Gulzar, Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri, Shabana Azmi and her husband Javed Akhtar, Madhuri Dixit, Hema Malini, Urmila Matondkar, John Abraham, Dia Mirza, Kareena Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Deepkia Padukone, Prem Chopra, Govinda, Subhash Ghai, Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Padmini Kolhapure, Vidya Balan, Jaya Bachchan, son Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.
Apart from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray, prominent candidates in the fray are: former Chief Ministers Ashok Chavan (Bhokar), Prithviraj Chavan (Karad South), Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil (Kothrud), Sharad Pawar’s grand nephew Rohit Pawar (Karjat-Jamkhed), late BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s daughter s Pankaja Munde and nephew Dhananjay Munde (Parli) and Nitesh Rane (Kankavli).