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Sluggish voting trend across 29 municipalities in Maharashtra which began voting for civic body polls on Thursday continued with only 17.41% voter turnout recorded by 11:30 am, according to the State Election Commission.
Earlier in day, only 7.12 per cent voter turnout recorded till 9:30 am in Mumbai. The highest voter turnout was recorded in Ward 18 of Mumbai, at 11.57 per cent. Ward no. 162 recorded the lowest turnout at 1.68 per cent. A total of 7,36,996 voters have cast their votes out of a total 1,03,44,315. According to official data released by the State Election Commission (SEC), nearly twice as many men as women have cast their votes. 4,54,539 men have cast their vote in BMC elections, compared to 2,82,433 women. Earlier, several leaders, including Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik and his family, cast their votes at the Bonkode Polling Station for the local body polls. Former Rajya Sabha MP, Subhash Chandra also cast his vote and criticised the 'higher income groups' for complaining but not coming out to vote. "I came to cast my vote today. The higher-income groups complain about everything but are reluctant to come out to cast their votes. They probably don't have the right to complain if they can't come to cast their vote," he said. He also reported that he initially had difficulty locating his booth number, but the officers helped him promptly. "There might have been some glitch in the voting lists; there is not much trouble. I also was not able to find the booth number, but the officers did not take much time to find it for me," he said. Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey also cast his vote at a polling station in Mumbai's Kandivali. Dubey said the Election Commission (EC) website was not functioning properly and urged citizens to leave their homes to cast votes. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed that the candidate for whom he cast his vote was not displayed on the digital screen. Similar statements were made by others, with Director Ashutosh Gowariker's brother, Avinash Gowariker expressed his disappointment over the lack of "voting slips." Speaking to ANI about the arrangements, Gowariker said that although the venue was "comfortable" and there were no issues, the absence of "voting slips" caused delays and confusion at the polling stations. Polling began at 7:30 am on Thursday, January 15, and will continue until 5:30 pm. The vote count is scheduled for Friday, January 16. Meanwhile, polling is being held on Thursday across 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra. The elections are taking place after an intense campaign and are seen as crucial for major cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, and Pimpri-Chinchwad. (ANI)
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