54.22 pc turnout in Maharashtra in 5th phase of LS polls

A voter turnout of 5422 per cent was recorded in Maharashtra where polling was held in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies including half a dozen in Mumbai in the fifth and final phase of India general elections 2024 in the state amid tight security on Monday officials said as actors corporate leaders and prominent politicians came out to exercise their franchiseThe state Chief Electoral Officers CEO office revised voting figure at 1045 pm and put the approximate turnout at 5422 per cent as the India general elections 2024 passed off peacefully reported PTIOf the 13 constituencies spread across the Mumbai region and North Maharashtra the highest turnout was in Dindori in Nashik district at 6266 per cent while the lowest was in Kalyan in Thane district the political turf of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at 4708 per centAmong the other seats Palghar recorded 6118 per cent polling Bhiwandi 5641 per cent Dhule 5661 per cent Mumbai North 5521 per cent Mumbai North Central 5142 per cent Mumbai North East 5375 per cent Mumbai North West 5367 per cent Mumbai South 4770 per cent Mumbai South Central 5188 per cent Nashik 5625 per cent and Thane 4981 per cent according to data provided by the CEO officeAs per the data Mumbai witnessed a turnout of 5227 per cent with voters braving severe humidity and heat to cast their ballot In 2019 the poll percentage in the metropolis was higher at 5538With this voting for all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra has concludedBollywood actors corporate leaders cricketers and prominent politicians queued up along with common citizens to exercise their franchiseChief Minister Shinde voted along with his family members at a booth in ThaneShinde later told reporters that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR is a stronghold of the Shiv SenaBJP where the ruling alliance will win all the 10 seats six in Mumbai three in Thane district and the Palghar seatShiv Sena UBT leader and former CM Uddhav Thackeray and his wife Rashmi Thackeray exercised their franchise at a polling booth in Bandra area of MumbaiMaharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his wife Sharmila Thackeray voted at a booth in Mumbais Dadar areaShiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora exercised his franchise at a polling booth in south MumbaiSeveral prominent persons including Union minister Piyush Goyal RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das industrialists Ratan Tata Mukesh Ambani Anil Ambani N Chandrasekaran Anand Mahindra Kumar Mangalam Birla megastar Amitabh Bachchan superstar Akshay Kumar batting legend Sachin Tendulkar cricketers Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav exercised their franchise in the metropolisFormer Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik actors and film personalities Shabana Azmi Javed Akhtar Farhan Akhtar Janhvi Kapoor Anupam Kher Anil Kapoor Ashok Saraf and Prashant Damle also exercised their right to vote in MumbaiVoters queued up at some polling booths before start of voting at 7 am with some saying they wanted to avoid the heat later in the day while some wanted to exercise their franchise before going for their workMumbai recorded a maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius during the dayIn adjoining Thane city EVMs malfunctioned at a couple of booths in the morning but the problem was rectified district poll officials saidNo serious offence or incident of violence was reported in Mumbai though a few complaints of Modern Code of Conduct MCC violation were received a senior police official said reported PTIMore than 30000 police personnel and officers were deployed on election duty As many as 36 units of the Central Armed Police Force CAPF three of the Riot Control Police and 6200 Home Guards along with senior officers were engaged in poll duty he said reported PTIBesides maintaining law and order Mumbai police officials also helped people and senior citizens to cast their votes across the city the official said reported PTINoncognizable offences were registered at Bhandup and Navghar Police Stations in Mumbais eastern suburbs against two Shiv Sena UBT supporters for demonstrating dummy EVM s to voters an official saidShiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray claimed there were a lot of complaints from electors about lack of facilities outside polling boothsA lot of complaints from voters about the facilities outside the booths ECISVEEP Atleast having the voter lines in shade fans could help They dont want much just basics to stay cool Please look into it the former state minister said in a post on XShiv Sena UBT president Uddhav Thackeray alleged in the afternoon that voting was delayed at several places in Mumbai and the Election Commission of India was doing this deliberately at the behest of the Modi governmentDirty games are being played through the Election Commission There is a lot of enthusiasm among voters but the Election Commission is acting in a partisan manner Thackeray allegedThere was no incident of crowding outside polling stations in Mumbai city district due to slow voting process said Mumbai city collector Sanjay Yadav reported PTIIn the morning voters in large numbers assembled outside booths in Sewri Sion Koliwada and one more place but additional manpower was used to clear the rush and the polling process was conducted swiftly the senior bureaucrat said reported PTIWith inputs from PTI