Maharashtra polls: Suburbs, industrial hubs in state see massive rise in voter numbers

Mumbai's voter count has surged to 97.02 million across 288 assembly segments, with Chinchwad having the highest at 663,622 due to migration

Mumbai: With 97.02 million voters across 288 assembly segments, the average number of voters per constituency in the state stands at 284,158, a notch above 270,000, the average size of an assembly segment fixed during the 2008 delimitation exercise.

With 97.02 million voters across 288 assembly segments, the average number of voters per constituency in Maharashtra stands at 284,158. ((PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))

Some constituencies have, however, seen an exponential rise in voters, with Chinchwad emerging as the largest constituency with 663,622 voters. In Mumbai, Chandivali in the western suburbs has emerged as the largest constituency with 453,003 voters, while Wadala remains the smallest constituency with just 205,387 voters.

Additional chief electoral officer Kiran Kulkarni said differences in the number of voters per constituency between 2008 and now was owing to various reasons. The delimitation exercise in 2008 was based on the 2001 census, and the population has grown exponentially since, which has contributed to the change, he said.

“Migration and reluctance of voters to strike off names of deceased relatives from the list have also played a role,” he said. “Morover, many Konkan residents choose to keep their names in the voters’ list at their native place as well as in Mumbai or other cities, where they migrate for jobs.”

Another official from the state election commission said the voter count in all constituencies in and around Pune, including Chinchwad, has risen substantially owing to affordable housing, industrialisation and the flourishing of the information technology sector.

“Chinchwad is the hub of industrialisation activities and this is the main reason for the rapid growth in voter numbers. Mumbai has also witnessed massive migration to its suburbs and adjoining cities like Thane and Navi Mumbai. This has resulted in constituencies within Mumbai shrinking and those in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune witnessing massive growth (in terms of voter numbers),” the official said.

Mumbai and its suburbs account for 10 and 26 assembly constituencies respectively, and they have around 2.54 and 7.68 million voters respectively. The city’s average voters per constituency is 254,000 while the average in the suburbs is 295,000. The average number of voters in Thane’s 18 constituencies is 401,000 while in Navi Mumbai, constituencies like Panvel (652,062) have a high number of voters, said officials.