The polling started at 7 AM and till noon moderate voting was recorded in both the states. However, Mumbai was quite lazy to come out and it stood on a paltry figure of 15 percent by noon.
The assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana are about to come to an end. The polling started at 7 AM and till noon moderate voting was recorded in both the states. However, Mumbai was quite lazy to come out and it stood on a paltry figure of 15 percent by noon.
For the 288 member Maharashtra assembly, polling percentage crossed the mark of 40 in the evening. In Haryana, voting reached a healthy 61 percent by 4 PM, although the state had a very slow start in the morning which stood at 7 percent.
Reportedly, Among the early voters were former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who cast his vote in Karad in western Maharashtra. State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis, a front runner for chief ministerial post if BJP comes to power, also cast his vote in Nagpur.
Bollywood celebrities who went to polling booths in Mumbai were actress Rekha, Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Amol Palekar and Atul Kulkarni among others. Cricket’s master blaster Sachin Tendulkar also cast his vote urging citizens to come out and vote.
Among corporate honchos, those who cast their vote included HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, Reliance Group chief Anil Ambani, TCS MD and CEO N Chandrasekaran, Godrej group Chairman Adi Godrej and HCC chairman Ajit Gulabchand among others.
Actor Salman Khan who voted in Mumbai showed his disappointment for the low turnout in the city and urged the voters to ‘get inked’. Reportedly, the actor addressed his fans and said: “Instead of coming out and voting, people prefer to relax at home or rather go out for picnics outside the city.”
Other Bollywood celebs, including Rekha, too urged the voters to vote in the elections.
Around 4,119 candidates are in the electoral fray in Maharashtra, including to 276 women in the state with 8.35 crore voters eligible to exercise their right to franchise. The state has over 8 crore voters.
Haryana has 1,351 candidates in the fray, including 116 women, who are fighting for 90 assembly seats. The state has over 1.63 crore voters, including 87.37 lakh women. Interestingly, the highest number of 116 women contestants is in fray this time.
Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda was among early voters who cooled off before voting by having a badminton session.
BJP candidate from Narnaund assembly segment Abhimanyu alleged that attempts to capture booth were made in Baas village in the constituency at the behest of rival INLD, which vehemently denied the charge. Abhimanyu told reporters in Narnaund that wires of web-casting camera were cut in Booth No 140 and attempt was made to capture booth by the ‘goondas’.
Others who cast their votes early included Haryana Ministers Randeep Singh Surjewala (Kaithal), Savitri Jindal (Hisar), Geeta Bhukkal (Jhajjar), Ajay Singh Yadav (Rewari), BJP’s Chief Ministerial aspirant Capt Abhimanyu of the BJP (Narnaund in Hisar district) and INLD’s Naina Chautala (Sirsa).
The Hindu reported faulty EVMs: “Technical problems in EVMs were reported from some polling booths in Mumbai’s Magathane constituency near Borivali and in Sewree. The technical glitches were even seen in Nagpur and Wardha district in Vidarbha. Voters in a Nashik booth also complained that the voter rolls were not in order.”
Voting will continue till 6 pm. Counting of votes is on 19 October.
