Mumbai Election Day forecast: Minimum 19 degrees Celsius, moderate AQI 107

The India Meteorological Department IMD on polling day has predicted maximum and minimum temperatures in Mumbai to be around 32 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius respectivelyAccording to the Sameer app the Air Quality Index AQI in the city stands at 107 indicating moderate pollution levels People with lung disorders asthma or heart conditions may experience some breathing discomfortAQI Across MumbaiBandra Kurla Complex BKC ndash 133Borivali East ndash 118Byculla ndash 91Andheri East ndash 118Chembur ndash 100Colaba ndash 101Deonar ndash 125BMC elections 2026 Voting begins across Mumbairsquos 227 wardsVoting began across Mumbairsquos 227 wards on Thursday with the BJPled Mahayuti alliance locked in a highstakes battle against the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of Indiarsquos largest and richest civic body1700 candidates in fray tight security across cityIn the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC which has an annual budget exceeding Rs 74400 crore around 1700 candidates are contesting 227 seats The elections are being held after a nineyear gap following a fouryear delay More than 25000 police personnel have been deployed across the city to ensure smooth conduct of the pollsOver 103 crore voters eligible to cast ballotsA total of 10344315 citizens are eligible to vote in the BMC elections This includes 5516707 male voters 4826509 female voters and 1099 voters in the lsquootherrsquo categoryCounting of votes will take place on January 16Parel voter denied entry as digital ID not acceptedA young voter from Parel who earlier resided in Prabhadevi and has voted in the area in the past faced difficulties while attempting to cast his vote on Thursday morning due to the absence of a physical identity documentDigiLocker ID not accepted inside polling boothThe voter was carrying his mobile phone and work laptop and expected that a digital identity document stored on the governmentbacked DigiLocker app would be accepted as valid proof for votingMobile phone ban leads to denial of entryHowever as mobile phones are not permitted inside polling booths and identity documents are required to be shown inside the booth prior to voting he was denied entry into the polling stationElection officials cite State Election Commission rulesThe voter was seen engaging in a discussion with election officials outside the polling premises Responding to his request officials reportedly told him ldquoWe have to follow the rules issued by the State Election Commission and cannot make exceptions Digital IDs even on government applications such as DigiLocker are not included in the list of valid identity proofs for voting Mobile phones are not allowed inside the booth even in airplane moderdquo