With 53.92% voter turnout, Mumbai betters its 2019 record of 49.75%

MUMBAI: Breaking the record of the past two assembly elections, on Wednesday around 53.92% (logged by ECI till 11.30pm) registered voters from Mumbai city and suburbs stepped out to exercise their right, bettering the 2019 turnout of 49.75%. It is also higher than the recent Lok Sabha turnout of 52.4%.

The voter turnout in Mumbai city stood at 52.07% and 55.77% in Mumbai suburbs. While Colaba maintained its record of the lowest at 44.49%, Bhandup logged the highest at 61.12%.

Overall, the elections went by smoothly in 10,117 polling stations — 2,538 in Mumbai city and 7,579 in the suburbs — across 36 constituencies. Voters expressed satisfaction with well-organised facilities at polling stations, and praised election officials and the staff for their efforts. Every one noted improvement in the system in comparison to the Lok Sabha election six months ago.

The slight increase in the voter turnout, said political researcher Harshad Bhosale, was not encouraging. “The trend displays the trivialisation of major political narratives,” said Bhosale, also evidenced by the use of derogatory language by candidates during campaigns particularly targeting women candidates in the fray, and the game of one-upmanship between political parties in their promise of freebies.

“No party is willing to focus on governance; instead, they have prioritized populist rhetoric. Our political culture today emphasises personal attacks and stigmatization. This has led to even educated individuals engaging in unverified discussions on social media, adversely affecting democracy,” he added.

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He attributed the marginal increase in voter turnout to micro-level management by parties by employing various strategies to connect with voters.

For the first time, the responsibilities of both the city and suburbs were jointly handled by BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, ECI, local administration, police and other agencies. Special polling booths, including those run by women and youth, reflected the city’s commitment to inclusivity.

The otherwise peaceful process however was interrupted with chief minister Eknath Shinde’s unscheduled visit to the Chandivali constituency, which elicited criticism and complaint from Shiv Sena’s rival candidate and former minister Arif (Naseem) Khan of Congress, who asked ECI to lodge an FIR for violating the code of conduct.

Apart from this, there was also a clash between police and BJP’s Praveen Darekar at Sion Koliwada constituency; Darekar alleged Congress workers were influencing voters and were being aided by police.

Voter turnout in the island city was a mixed bag, ranging between 44.49% to 58%. Worli’s turnout, where Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya faced and Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora, saw a turnout of 52.78%, an improvement over 48.14% in 2019 assembly elections. Sewri logged 54.42%, Mumbadevi 48,76% and Dharavi 49.7%.

While this part of the city failed to impress with numbers, polling booths shone up with the presence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family, chairperson of Tata Sons N Chandrasekaran, actors Rahul Bose and Suneil Shetty, songwriter Vishal Dadlani, among others.

Residents in Mumbai’s western suburbs remained consistent in their electoral performance with an average turnout of around 50%. Of the 16 assembly segments, Borivali fared best with 61% turnout while the lowest was from Bandra West at 50.36%; Bandra East registered 54.66% and Dahisar 57% turnout.

The absence of long queues was a welcome relief for voters. “This is how voting for the Lok Sabha should have been, seamless and organised,” said Dhaval Shah, a Lokhandwala resident who stood guard to guide residents to their booth.

While many voters had made their pick, an equal number of voters expressed despondency over the political slugfest, calling it a “khichdi.” Trust in political leaders was at a low due to parties splitting up; voters were seen huddled in groups lamenting “dirty politics,” which they said led to a dismal atmosphere around the five-yearly democratic participation.

Meanwhile, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader taking rounds said there were complaints of EVMs running slow and breaking down as well as the rival group influencing voters for the last-minute attempt.

While voter turnout in Vikhroli, Bhandup, Mulund, Ghatkopar East and West, and Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar increased over 2019, the absence of serpentine queues were the result of an increase in the number of booths. While the turnout was sparse in the morning, it picked up after 11am and remained steady till around 1:30pm; by 4pm crowds began gathering again at booths in Tagore Nagar and Kannamwar Nagar, in Vikhroli, as well as in hilly areas of Bhandup. In Mulund, voting proceeded sans any hitch aided by free auto and taxi services by political parties for voters.

Bhandup saw 61.12% of the listed voters turning up at the polling centres as against the lowest of 50.12% at Chandivali. Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar saw 52% voter turnout.