BMC Election 2017 update: 55 pc polling in Mumbai civic poll, up by 10 pc from 2012

Mumbaikars cast his during the BMC Election at Behram Baug in Jogeshwari Mumbai early in the morning PicsNimesh DaveAbout 56 per cent voters todayexercised their franchise in the polling for 10 municipalcorporations across Maharashtra including the allimportantBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC in Mumbai55 per cent voting was recorded for BMC polls eclipsingthe last poll percentage by almost 10 per centThe turnout for 11 Zilla Parishads and 118 PanchayatSamiti polls in the state was 69 per cent election officialssaidPolling began at 730 AM at 43160 polling stationsacross the stateIn Mumbai voting picked up as the day progressed withseveral politicians and film celebrities and industry figuresstepping out to exercise their franchiseThe impressive polling in Mumbai compared to 2012has brought cheer to leaders of BJP as the party is seeking towrest control of Indias richest civic body from its bickeringalliance partner in the state government the Shiv SenaThe Maharashtra state election commission released theprimary figures of polling across nine municipal corporationsbesides Mumbai in the state late in the eveningThese are as follows Thane 58 per cent Ulhasnagar 48per cent Pune 54 per cent Pimpri Chinchwad 67 per centSolapur 60 per cent Nashik 60 per cent Akola 56 percent Amravati 55 per cent and Nagpur 53 per centThe rural areas where Zilla Parishad elections were heldfared better than thecitiesThe districtwise percentage for ZP elections is asfollows Raigad 71 Ratnagiri 64 Sindhudurg 70 Nashik68 Pune 70 Satara 70 Sangli 65 Solapur 68Kolhapur 70 Amravati 67 and Gadchiroli 68The average percentage of turnout for ZP polls was at6943 per centThe stakes are high for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray who have led their respective parties from the front and were involved in a high decibel and no holds barred campaign relegating the Opposition Congress and NCP to the background Polling began at 730 AM at 43160 polling stations spread across the stateFor the latest on BMC Election 2017 visit our special pageThe districts going to polls in the second phase are Ratnagiri Sindhudurg Satara Sangli Kolhapur Pune Solapur Nashik Amravati and Gadchiroli Elections are being held in 118 panchayat samitis in these districts The ten municipal corporations include Mumbai Thane Ulhasnagar Nashik Pune PimpriChinchwad Solapur Akola Amravati and NagpurAs many as 43160 polling booths have been set up There will be 276 lakh election staff and equal number of police personnel on the duty More than 180 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the zilla parishads and panchayat samitis while 195 crore urban voters will in the ten Municipal corporationsUddhav ThackerayIn Mumbai the countrys financial capital there are 2275 candidates and 92 lakh voters The election result for Asias largest civic body which has been run by the Shiv Sena supported by the BJP for the last two decades will decide the fate of the Devendra Fadnavis governmentIn municipal corporations excluding Mumbai there are multimember wards where a voter will have to cast his vote for each of the category in the panel Each panel has more than two wardsDevendra FadnavisThe big poll focus is on 227member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC retaining control of which is vital for Shiv Sena as the city has remained its prime political space ever since the partys formation in 1966 Shiv Sena has been in power in BMC for over two decades