Maharashtra voter turnout at 54.33% till 11 pm; 44.22% to 49.79% in Mumbai

Low voter turnout in Mumbai due to heat, inadequate facilities, names missing from rolls. Highest turnout in tribal-dominated Dindori at 62.66%.

Mumbai: Sweltering heat, inadequate facilities like drinking water, fans and chairs for senior citizens, and several names missing from the electoral rolls led to a low voter turnout in the 13 constituencies from Maharashtra that went to the polls on Monday in the fifth of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. Till 11 pm, the turnout across the 13 constituencies stood at 54.33%, according to the election commission.

Thane and Kalyan, the two Lok Sabha constituencies in the Thane district, which is considered chief minister Eknath Shinde’s bastion and experienced a battle between the two Shiv Sena factions, also surprisingly witnessed a low turnout. (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

The turnout in Mumbai’s six Lok Sabha constituencies was 52.27%. This is a provisional count, with the final figure expected over the next three days. Officials from the state branch of the election commission expect the turnout in the city to cross the 2019 figure of 55.38%. The tribal-dominated reserved constituency of Dindori in Nashik district reported the highest turnout in the state in the fifth phase, 62.66%. With this phase, voting comes to an end in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections.

It was a warm morning, with a minimum temperature of 29C, two degrees above normal, recorded at 5.30 am, while humidity levels in south Mumbai and the suburbs touched 80% and 74% respectively. Most polling booths saw long queues during the morning hours as people, especially senior citizens, looked to escape the heat. The turnout was quite low in the afternoon hours.

The Mumbai South constituency, infamous for its historic voter apathy, did little to overturn its image. At 47.7%, Mumbai South recorded the lowest voter turnout of the six Mumbai constituencies till 11 pm. There was a good sprinkle of affluent Mumbaiites and senior citizens at polling booths, but the youth were barely seen. Mumbai North clocked the highest voter turnout in the city, at 55.21%.

In Mumbai North West, comprising the assembly constituencies of Andheri East, Andheri West, Jogeshwari, Versova, Dindoshi, and Goregaon, crowds swelled in the morning, resulting in long queues. As the day progressed, the long queues turned into a trickle in the afternoon. However, voters started returning in good numbers post 4 pm, even though the heat remained relentless. At 5.30pm, the maximum temperatures at Santacruz and Colaba were 34.8C and 35C, respectively, with humidity levels at 66% and 78%.

Inadequate facilities

Apart from the scorching heat, insufficient facilities at polling centres infuriated both the voters and the candidates. A furious Piyush Goyal, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mumbai North candidate, lashed out at the “poorly managed” polling booths, saying voters complained to him about fans either not working or being insufficient, inadequate supply of drinking water, and no shade for those standing in long queues.

“It was terrible standing in serpentine queues,” said Nitin Gupta, a resident of Kandivali. “There were barely 5-7 fans working. When we made a hue and cry about it, the poll booth officers discarded our complaints.”

Senior citizens suffered the most, with many returning home without voting. Sheetal Magon, a 42-year-old resident of Chandivali, said she chose not to take her elderly family members to vote due to the heat and lack of arrangements. “They can’t stand or wait for two to three hours in the queue,” she said.

Several people also complained about their names not being in the electoral rolls, said multiple party workers at makeshift booths outside polling centres. Vilot Muniz, a resident of Vakola, said she was among at least 18 people at her booth whose names were missing from the rolls. She was told that her and her family members’ names were missing because they had shifted to the new residential area as her previous home was under redevelopment.

“When they checked for our names in the list, it said ‘not existed’ in their laptop. It was so bad that they even printed our names wrong on the voter’s slip. They had misprinted the gender and spelling of my children’s names on the slip. There were also many senior citizens who wanted to vote but were not able to because of this mishap,” she said.

At the polling booths in St Paul’s High School, Dadar, voters were not allowed to enter the premises with mobile phones. This led to crowding outside the school, with voters making their family members stand outside with their phones and taking turns to vote one by one. “Many left without voting, while others had to go back to keep their belongings and mobiles at home. In other polling stations, mobiles were allowed after switching them off,” said a voter who did not wish to be named.

Ministerspeak

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said he has requested the election commission to look into the voters’ complaints that led to a poor turnout in Mumbai. “I have requested Mumbai and Mumbai suburban collectors to ensure that the voters do not face any hardship,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray addressed a press conference late in the afternoon, where he slammed the election commission for the low turnout and also made allegations of a conspiracy behind it. “Voting is delayed in areas where we get more voting. This is to discourage people from voting. If voters find such officials or polling staff involved in purposeful delay, send their names to the local Shiv Sena branches.”

Thackeray urged people not to leave the polling centre until they had cast their vote. “They cannot refuse your voting right once you are in queue before 6 pm. So, be there and let the polling continue till 5 am but don’t leave without voting,” he said. The 63-year-old also criticised the mismanagement and inadequate facilities at the booths.

When contacted, Maharashtra chief electoral officer S Chockalingam said queues were seen at some polling booths due to the overwhelming response in the early hours of the day. He said that the EC deployed senior officers to the booths that had long queues to streamline the process, adding the queues receded by afternoon.

The EC also assured people via a video posted on social media in the afternoon that all the voters who are in the queue at 6 pm will get a chance to vote. “The polling station will continue to function till all the voters who were in the queue at 6 pm cast their vote,” said Chockalingam.

Low turnout in CM’s bastion

Thane and Kalyan, the two Lok Sabha constituencies in the Thane district, which is considered chief minister Eknath Shinde’s bastion and experienced a battle between the two Shiv Sena factions, also surprisingly witnessed a low turnout compared with Bhiwandi and Palghar, the other two constituencies in the region.

Kalyan, represented by Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde, witnessed the lowest turnout out of the four – 47.08% till 11 pm. Several people returned home without voting as their names were missing from the electoral rolls. In Dombivli, a BJP and RSS bastion for decades, many polling booths witnessed a satisfactory turnout in the backdrop of the recent conflict between the Shinde Sena and the BJP.