On Monday, Mumbai’s general election turnout was 52.27 percent, a decline from 55.38 percent in 2019. The decrease was influenced by the hot weather and reported delays in the polling process. Mumbai South had the lowest turnout at 47.7 percent. The Election Commission reported the following turnouts: North at 55.21 percent, North Central at 51.42 percent, North East at 53.75 percent, North West at 53.67 percent, and South Central at 51.88 percent.
Voters experienced significant delays, with some leaving without casting their ballots after waiting for extended periods. Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray suggested these delays were intentional. A senior citizen in Goregaon East reported waiting for one and a half hours. Thackeray accused the Election Commission of acting partially, alleging delays by its representatives in specific areas.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member, criticized the Election Commission for not providing enough voting machines, leading to long queues. She noted that voters who arrived at 7.30 am were still voting at 10 am. Congress candidate Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai North Central also reported voter complaints about inadequate facilities and long waits.
High humidity and a maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius added to voter discomfort. Key candidates included Union Minister Piyush Goyal against Bhushan Patil of Congress in North, Sanjay Dina Patil of Sena (UBT) against Mihir Kotecha of BJP in North East, and Advocate Ujjwal Nikam of BJP versus Varsha Gaikwad in North Central. In Mumbai North West, Amol Kirtikar of Sena (UBT) faced Ravindra Waikar of Shiv Sena, while Anil Desai of Sena (UBT) contested Rahul Shewale of Shiv Sena in Mumbai South Central, and Arvind Sawant of Sena (UBT) was up against Yamini Jadhav of Shiv Sena in Mumbai South.
Notable voters included industrialists Anil and Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, and film stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and others. The overall voting percentage in the 13 constituencies in Maharashtra that voted in the final phase was 54.22 percent.
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