Mumbai, February 16: : Marked by a poor turnout, polling is underway in 10 municipal corporations across Maharashtra.
Voter apathy was evident as the turnout was reportedly around 25 percent till 1:30 pm.
No untoward incident has been reported so far.
Over 25,000 security personnel have been deployed in Mumbai, the biggest corporation going to polls, where around 1.30 crore people can exercise their franchise today.
Despite all government offices, educational institutions and a large number of private establishments declaring a holiday to enable the voters cast their ballots, there were hardly any queues seen at polling stations.
Congress MP from Mumbai North-Central constituency, Priya Dutt, expressed strong displeasure over the apathy of voters.
“It is very sad that a lot of people have not come out to vote. If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain. They are not contributing to the society. You are getting what you deserve….you are harming the society and the country,” she said.
HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh also disapproved of the people’s lukewarm response to the civic elections. “Voting is a fundamental right and people must exercise their franchise,” he said.
“Educated people don’t come out and vote. The quality of life is going down in the city and some desperate measures are needed,” he said.
Film personality Gulzar, who arrived at a polling station to cast his vote was “disappointed” that his name was missing from the voters list.
A 55-year-old identified as Lalmani Vishwakarma, collapsed and died after casting his ballot at yograj Vidyalaya polling booth in Saki Naka’s ward number 154.
An electorate of over 2.02 crore are eligible to elect their representatives from among 1,244 candidates in the fray.
Besides Mumbai, elections are being held in Thane, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Nashik, Akola, Amravati, Nagpur and Mumbai municipal corporations.
Of the total, Mumbai has nearly one-third of the voters, underlining the importance of the country’s commercial capital.
Around 8,326 voting centres are being set up across the city, with 41,000 municipal officers on duty.
Police have also stepped up security measures, deploying around 2,375 officers, 20,982 constables, and five additional companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) along with the existing three companies.
Three companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and 2,000 Home Guards will be deployed in the city on the poll day, Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik said.
According to Patnaik, of the 211 sensitive polling stations, comprising 883 booths, four have been declared hyper-sensitive. There will be maximum deployment of security personnel at the hyper-sensitive spots, where CCTVs have been installed.
Sale of liquor has been prohibited for three days from Wednesday. Two control rooms have also been set up for poll-related complaints. Emergency numbers (022-22623054 and 022-22621983) have been dedicated for it.
—-Agencies