BMC Election: Mumbai shakes off its lethargy with record 55.28 pc voter turnout

For complete coverage on BMC Election 2017 click hereVoters patiently queue up at a municipal school in Ashok Nagar Kandivli East yesterday PicNimesh DaveMumbai youve bested yourself The city registered its best performance in over two decades of civic polls by polling nearly 5528 per cent in yesterdays BMC electionAlso read BMC Election Wheres my name Prominent Mumbaikars cant vote since they are missingAfter a dismal start earlier in the day mdash the voter turnout stood at 19 per cent at 1 pm mdash Mumbaikars set out to change their poor track record mdash the city had never crossed the 50 per cent mark in civic elections since 1992 mdash by the end of pollingIn the 2012 BMC election voting percentage stood at 4475 per cent marginally higher than that of the 2007 poll 46 per cent Data of only 18 of the 23 wards had been received at the time of going to pressFriends cast their vote at Jamnabai Narsee School Juhu in Mumbai Pic Satej ShindeExpect better seat shareExperts feels that a high voting percentage could be a windfall for political parties and help them clinch a higher share of seats Political observers and senior party leaders say a higher percentage could change parties dynamics with each other In the 2014 assembly and parliamentary polls higher voting percentages had benefited the BJPThe fates of Shiv Sena and MNS rests on the voting pattern in DadarParel belt their traditional Marathi vote bank Voting percentages in the belt stood at 48 per cent in 2007 and 46 per cent in 2012Suburbs still betterSuburbs maintained their record of performing better than the island city RCentral ward Borivali topped with 615 per cent and RNorth Dahisar at 60The poorest shows were from the C and D wards Chandanwadi Marine Lines Malabar Hill Grant Road and Nana Chowk mdash with 4725 per cent polling mdash as well as A B and E wards Colaba Cuffe Parade Churchgate Dongri Byculla Mazgaon mdash with a 4911 per cent turnoutPhotos BMC Election 2017 photos Prominent Mumbaikars cast their voteIn both 2007 and 2012 ward 227 comprising the tony areas of RC Church Colaba and Navy Nagar registered the lowest turnouts of 2311 per cent and 2347 per cent respectively Overall ward A which covers Colaba Cuffe Parade Fort Churchgate and CST hadnt fared much better It saw a polling of 3526 per cent in 2007 and 3410 in 2012In sharp contrast voters of suburbs like Bhandup and Borivli had streamed into booths In 2007 ward 107 Tembhipada Gaondevi in Bhandup W topped the turnout at 5932 In 2012 ward 11 Bansi Nagar Tata Power House in Borivali E took the cake with 5566 polling918lakhNo of voters in the city6308Turnout in the 2014 assembly election55Percentage of voters that turned up yesterdayPoll of polls92Shiv Sena90BJP30Congress07MNS06NCP