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Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi cast her vote at a polling station in Mumbai as polling for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections was underway.
Chaturvedi complained that she couldn't find her name in the voter list and was directed to another polling booth, where she was able to cast her vote. She urged citizens to turn out in large numbers and exercise their voting rights. "Upon arriving at the polling station where I usually vote, I found that my name was not on the list. I was directed to another location where I cast my vote. I appeal to all Mumbaikars to vote in large numbers and to please check their polling booth details before going to vote. It is very important to vote for a party that has earned our trust over the years," Chaturvedi told ANI. 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra have gone to the polls today as a high-voltage campaign came to an end, setting the stage for a decisive political contest in key urban centres including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The Mahayuti is contesting the local body polls largely together, except in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, where the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has chosen to ally with Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP). In Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, both NCP factions have come together under a joint manifesto. The main political battle remains centred on Mumbai and Pune, where the BJP-led Mahayuti will face the united Thackeray camp, as just ahead of the civic polls, Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray joined hands on the issue of "son of the soil" in a high-stakes fight for control of the BMC, the country's richest civic body. The last BMC elections were held in 2017. In Pune, in a major political realignment, both factions of the NCP came together just before the civic polls for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), following a split in 2023. Ajit Pawar joined hands with Sharad Pawar again and contested against the NDA partner BJP in Pune, whereas Shivsena, led by Eknath Shidne opted to go solo in PMC after failing to set up an acceptable seat-sharing formula with BJP. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), a total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots to decide the fate of 15,908 candidates contesting 2,869 seats across 893 wards in 29 municipal corporations. A total of 39092 Polling centre has been set up across the state. Polling will be held on January 15 from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, with vote counting scheduled to begin on Friday, January 16. (ANI)
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