Mumbai Live: With 53% city sees highest voter turnout since 1991

9:09 pm: Mumbai’s 53 percent is the turnout highest since 1991 The 19 Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai, North Maharashtra and Marathwada registered 55.33 percent average voter turnout in the third and last phase of polling for the Lok Sabha election in the state. Interestingly, Mumbai registered record a breaking 52.66 percent voter turnout on Thursday surpassing the average voter turnout of Mumbai recorded in last six Lok Sabha elections held since 1991. The average voter turnout in the last six Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai was 41.40% (2009), 47.30% (2004), 45.00% (1999), 50.40% (1998), 45.10% (1996) and 41.60% (1991). 6:30 pm: Polling in Mumbai ends with 53 percent turnout With 53 percent voter turnout, Mumbai fared better in comparison with the Lok Sabha polls in 2009, which saw a voter turnout of 43 percent. 6:30 pm: Initial figures show an average of 53 percent polling in Mumbai As per initial figures by election commission, total voting in six Mumbai constituencies till 6 pm is as follows: 52 percent in Mumbai North, 50 percent in Mumbai North-West, 53 percent in Mumbai North-East, 55 percent in Mumbai North-Central and Mumbai South-Central, and 54 percent in Mumbai South. 5:00 pm: No BJP candidate, fine we’ll settle for Shiv Sena, say south Mumbai voters While most of Mumbai saw a typically low turn out on voting day, there was a steady stream of sedans and SUVs pulling up to the entrance of the polling booth at the Cathedral and John Connon Infant School on Malabar Hill. A policeman who had been on duty at the booth since yesterday estimated the turnout to be around 50 percent up until 3 pm. “A lot of Parsees live in this area and they are very conscientious when it comes to voting”, he told Firstpost’s Tariq Engineer. Even though there is no BJP candidate on the ballot in Mumbai South, most people Firstpost spoke to said they voted for the BJP. When pressed, they said a vote for the Shiv Sena candidate, Arvind Sawant, was effectively a vote for the BJP because the two were election partners. “Change is necessary”  said a group of three women in their early twenties. When asked who represented change, the reply was simple: “Narendra Modi”. “We have seen his enthusiasm and his spirit to do something for the country,” one of them explained. “We have seen what he has done for Gujarat.” For most of the voters, the local candidate did not matter.  It was more important to look at the bigger picture and elect a stable and strong government at the centre that would tackle the twin issues of corruption and economic development. “Everything comes down to corruption, Ashwin (named changed) said. “If corruption goes, then the economy will improve.” Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, Ashwin and his two friend wanted a government that would improve infrastructure in the country and bring down inflation. Even when local issues were a factor, the scale was tilted against the Congress. “Did not give Congress my vote because of rising prices that is making everything expensive," said a young Muslim man with his wife, who was in a full burkha. “We have no confidence in Congress.” 4:00 pm: Will Mumbai fall below its 2009 limits? The average voter turnout in Mumbai is currently below 35 percent. Can it beat the 43 percent turnout for 2009? It may just crawl beyond it. Here are the statistics for Mumbai as it stands: Mumbai north east 35 Mumbai noth central 36 Mumbai north 40 Mumbai south central 32 Mumbai south 29 *sob* 1:30 pm: Shah Rukh Khan joins list of celebrities to have voted After Aamir Khan, its now the turn of superstar Shah Rukh Khan to cast his ballot in a polling booth in Bandra. 12:40 pm: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray votes, wishes Modi all the best Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has also voted and there’s doubt who he would have voted for in Bandra. He also took the time out to wish Narendra Modi. “He’s in Varanasi and I wish him all the best,” Thackeray said. 12:16 pm: Voter turnout remains tepid in Mumbai even as day goes on No amount of selfies, celebrities and encouragements evidently are enough to get Mumbaikars to get out and vote. Till 11 am the average voter turnout in the constituencies is still a dismal 15 percent. Here are the turnout figures till 11 am that was reported by CNN-IBN(don’t look if you’re squeamish) : Mumbai North - 18.00% Mumbai North-West - 16.70% Mumbai North-East - 15.20% Mumbai North-Central - 15.50 % Mumbai South-Central - 18.50% Mumbai South - 13.20% Theories are already being bandied around that Mumbai may not or just crawl across the voter turnout figures seen in 2009. Here’s what Parag Shinde saw people in Dharavi heading out to work: [caption id=“attachment_1494791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Voters in Mumbai. Parag Shinde/ Firstpost[/caption] 12:10 pm: Is south Mumbai willing to plump for Shiv Sena to join the Modi wave? Firstpost’s Tariq Engineer is in south Mumbai’s Bhuleshwar area and met with voters and he reports that the Shiv Sena candidate Arvind Sawant may just be profiting from the Modi wave. In the absence of any BJP canddiate, many of those interviewed by him said they planned to vote for Sawant, despite the fact that they weren’t traditional Shiv Sena supporters. South Mumbai isn’t averse to voting for BJP or Shiv Sena candidates in the past as previous assembly elections have shown. But Milind Deora who may have been expecting a cakewalk may not get one. 11:20 am: Even Sachin has voted, now what’s your excuse Mumbai? Despite the naysayers, cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar took the time out on his birthday to step out and vote:11:00 am: In south Mumbai’s Muslim areas, few voters turn up in the morning Firstpost’s Vishwas Waghmode reports that in Muslim-dominated areas such as Mohammad Ali road and Pydhonie in South Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency, very few people were in the queues for polling at around 9 am. Locals said the people are expected to queue up after 11 am. “People in the area are voting for the Congress due to the Modi factor,” a Congress worker said. However, heavy security has been deployed in the area to ensure smooth polling in the sensitive area. 10:30 am: Raj Thackeray turns up to vote MNS chief Raj Thackeray turned up to vote at a polling booth in Dadar where he was snapped by Firstpost’s Parag Shinde: [caption id=“attachment_1494561” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Raj Thackeray en route to voting. Parag Shinde/ Firstpost[/caption]   10:15 am: Mumbai records dismal 8 percent turnout till 9 am Ok Mumbai, hasn’t evidently stepped out to vote early this morning by the signs of it. Reports coming in indicate the turnout is a dismal 8 percent till 9 am this morning. Is Mumbai just a late bird or are we heading for a new low in voter turnout in the metropolis? 10:10 am: Here’s something to inspire you to get out and vote [caption id=“attachment_1494485” align=“alignleft” width=“620”]  82-year-old Kamal Kathe steps out to vote at the Bal Mohan school in Dadar. If this doesn’t inspire you few things might to vote. Parag Shinde/ Firstpost[/caption] 10:00 am: HDFC chairman finds his name off voters list HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh has been unable to find his name on the voter rolls in his polling booth and complained to reporters that he had been voting there for years.

  Meanwhile other celebrities like actress Tanuja and daughter Tanisha had no such issues:

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  9:45 am: Here’s some of the celebrities who have cast their vote so far [caption id=“attachment_149444” align=“alignleft” width=“620”]  Sunny Deol, Dharmendra, Milind Soman, Paresh Rawal and Sonam Kapoor were among those who turned up early at voting booths. Sachin Gokhale/ Firstpost[/caption] 9:30 am: Medha Patkar complains of opponents distributing cash AAP candidate Medha Patkar says that she had information of other parties working to influence voters in her constituency by distributing cash. “We were up till 3:30 in the morning and even complained about this,” she told reporters. 9:25 am: Priya Dutt tells people to get out and vote Congress candidate Priya Dutt urged people to get out and vote. “We all have a lot of activism in Mumbai but when it comes to Mumbai, people always stay away…I appeal to all especially youngsters to get out and vote,” Congress candidate Priya Dutt said 9:20 am: Poonam Mahajan tells people to vote after looking at UPA’s record, gets interrupted Poonam Mahajan turned up to cast her vote at a Worli polling booth and said she would like voters to look at the track record of the UPA and NDA governments. “I leave it up to voters to decide what to do next,” she said. Even as she continued to speak a disgruntled voter turned up complaining that his name wasn’t on the voters list despite his family voting from there for years. She managed to placate him in time to continue speaking. She then cast her vote and even tweeted a selfie:

9:15 am: Milind Deora says he’s confident of winning “I firmly believe that I am fighting to protect the social and economic diversity of South Mumbai,” Milind Deora said. He said the elections were always challenging and he said none of his opponents could do it as well. And expectedly he’s not predicting any Modi wave in this election. Meanwhile, AAP candiate Medha Patkar is all smiles as she turns up to cast her vote at a polling booth in Mumbai. 8:40 am: Aamir Khan tells everyone to get out and vote Aamir Khan wouldn’t have heard the end of it if he didn’t turn up to vote and he didn’t disappoint. “My coming out to vote is my duty as an Indian. Go vote everybody,” he told reporters and walked away quickly. 8:30 am: Constable injured as Shiv Sena, MNS activists clash Shiv Sena and MNS activists clashed yesterday night reportedly accusing one another of distributing money at Maharashtra Nagar in the suburb of Mankhurd, which falls in the Mumbai south central Lok Sabha constituency. A police constable was seriously injured in the incident and has been admitted in the Joy hospital in Chembur. The MNS activists claimed that they opposed money being distributed by Shiv Sena activists, which led to clash. Police have registered a case in the matter. Shiv Sena candidate Rahul Shewale, MNS candidate Aditya Shirodkar and Congress candidate Eknath Gaikwad are in the fray in the constituency. 8:20 am: The bizarre tweets that caught our eye Not a funny joke. “Deepika ‏@dimpsdawns tweets: Maids across Bangalore have bunked today. They’ve gone to cast their vote again! in TN! And are hoping to return with gas stoves, cooker etc” Now we come to the bizarre. Rajdeep Sardesai ‏@sardesairajdeep says, “Send me a selfie of you voting and send to @ibncj will retweet the best ones!” But how on earth do they plan to decide on the ‘best’, asks Firstpost editor Anant Rangaswami. 8:25 am: Some complain their names not on voters’ list

8:20 am: In Mumbai’s Ghatkopar, lines early in the morning Even as early as 7.15 am, the Gujaratis of Ghatkopar East were certainly out casting their vote in the Mumbai North-East constituency. Three separate polling stations in Ghatkopar East wore a busy look as morning walkers, families in cars and temple-goers stopped to first cast their vote. Ghatkopar East was one of the Assembly segments in the 2009 election that saw the BJP’s Kirit Somaiya gain a big lead. Somaiya went on to lose the election. “We are BJP supporters. And this time we are more committed than in 2009 to ensure a BJP win,” said Veljibhai Shah, emerging from the polling station in a Marathi school opposite a Jain shrine in Ghatkopar East. 8:00 am: Actors Sunny Deol and Sonam Kapoor also spotted heading to vote Actors Sonam Kapoor and Sunny Deol have also been spotted stepping into voting stations in the Mumbai North Central constituency. Deol remained characteristically silent.7:50 am: Bollywood’s Vidya Balan casts her ballot Ok so not everyone has gone for the IIFA awards. Actress Vidya Balan has cast her ballot at a polling booth in Chembur. “It is a responsibility and if I want things to change in this country then it is important that I vote,” she told reporters. Here’s an image:7:45 am: AAP’s Meera Sanyal says she’s confident of victory AAP’s candidate for the Mumbai south seat Meera Sanyal says that she is confident of her victory and is the only candidate who has walked through her whole constituency. “I am certain of winning,” she told a news channel. Television footage also showed ADAG chief Anil Ambani leaving after voting.

  7:30 am: People step out to vote, urge others to do the same People have been stepping out to vote since polling booths opened and have also been tweeting their selfies after it. Here are some pics that caught our eye: 

  7:20 am: Rahul Bose becomes first celebrity to have voted and tweeted it Rahul Bose is perhaps the first celebrity to have tweeted his selfie after voting. Unfortunately while his heart is in the right place, his Marathi may not be. But who are we to complain. As long as Mumbai gets out to vote.

7.00 am: Voting begins in Mumbai  Voting begins in Mumbai today. Mumbai has six seats, all of which are held by the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance. 6.50 am: Will Mumbai step out to vote today? In Mumbai, the biggest question is not always who will the city’s residents vote for but whether they will even turn up to exercise their franchise at all. The 2009 election for the six seats of the city saw a dismal 43 percent turnout despite the fact that it came just months after the horrific terror attacks of November 2008. Publicity campaigns have been urging Mumbaikars for weeks to step out and vote. Some establishments are even offering discounts to voters to goad citizens out on a balmy day. In 2013, with high voter turnouts being recorded across the country where the poll has been conducted so far, all eyes will be on Mumbai to see whether the citizens of the metropolis take the various bait that have been thrown at them. Some of the city’s celebrities have already left for the sunny shores of Florida for an award function, but other celebrities, industrialists and regular citizens are expected to stand in queues and cast their vote. Issues on the basis of which votes will be cast will range from the central government’s performance to caste and community factors. Security will be high across the city with 322 polling stations across the city, 98 in the city and 224 in the suburbs, being declared ‘critical’. Over 20,000 police personnel apart will monitor the electoral process and even ‘micro-observers’ from the Centre will be present at every booth to ensure polling takes place fairly. [caption id=“attachment_1494055” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A Mumbai citizen walks past a poster urging citizens to vote. AFP[/caption] Up for grabs in this election are six seats, all of which are presently held by the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance. The Shiv Sena-BJP, along with new ally Republican Party of India, will be hoping to change those numbers and will be hoping to capitalise fully on massive anti-incumbency against the ruling alliance. And then there’s the Aam Aadmi Party which hopes to spoil the best laid plans of both sides. Here’s a breakdown of the seats that the parties will be in the fray for today: Mumbai South : Currently represented by Milind Deora from the Congress, the lack of a strong candidate is expected to help him see the inside of the Lok Sabha for another term. Up against him are former banker turned politician Meera Sanyal, Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant and the MNS’s Bala Nandgaonkar. The Shiv Sena and MNS candidate are expected to neutralise any real opposition to Deora, who’s expected to sail through. Unless of course Meera Sanyal plays the ultimate spoiler. Mumbai North Central: Presently represented by Priya Dutt of the Congress, she will be up against Poonam Mahajan of the BJP and Samajwadi Party’s Farhan Azmi. Dutt is the favourite to retain the seat but a possible discord in the party may result in her having a closer race than she would like. Mumbai North East: The seat is presently represented by the NCP’s Sanjay Dina Patil, who biggest achievement in his term may be that he was ranked as the worst MP from the state in a study conducted by the Association of Democratic Reforms. He won by the slimmest of margins in 2009 and BJP’s Kirit Somaiya who was at the losing end in that election will be hoping to turn the tables this time round. The absence of a MNS candidate is also expected to aid Somaiya’s cause. But then there’s social activist Medha Patkar, who on a Aam Aadmi Party ticket, could even give her party a seat in the Lok Sabha. Mumbai North West: Congress’s present MP Gurudas Kamat will face off against Shiv Sena challenger Gajanan Kirtikar, whose most notable contribution to this election may have been the discovery of a man who looks incredibly like Narendra Modi. Kirtikar, may have hoped to capitalise on the anti-incumbency and support for the Narendra Modi (the real one) but has to contend with the presence of MNS candidate Mahesh Manjrekar, the filmmaker. Manjrekar is largely expected to damage the Shiv Sena candidate’s chances and little else. And just in case you thought this contest would be boring, there’s also Rakhi Sawant, who will presumably even vote dressed as her party’s symbol, the green chilly. Mumbai North: As _Firstpost_'s Kavitha Iyer pointed out if there’s a Modi wave in Mumbai, it’s got to be in the western suburbs of Kandivli and Borivali. These are Gujarati-dominated suburbs, with residents having organic relationships with the home state of the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee. As if that’s not enough, sitting MP from the Congress Sanjay Nirupam is battling a strong anti-incumbency. He won by around 5,000 votes in the last election and facing popular MLA Gopal Shetty of the BJP, Nirupam can expect a close contest this time round as well. Mumbai South Central: Congress MP Eknath Gaikwad won convincingly in 2009 winning by over 75,000 votes. But the veteran politician faces strong anti-incumbency over being part of the UPA government and for failure to deliver on promises concerning Dharavi. Rahul Shewale of the Shiv Sena is hoping to capitalise on this. Shewale can hope to benefit from support from the RPI and could hope to corner a bulk of the Dalit votes in the constituency. MNS’s Aditya Shirodkar is also in the fray but isn’t expected to trouble either of the other candidates greatly.