Navi Mumbai sees 53% voting
VASHI: In a multi-cornered election that offered multiple choices, 53% of Navi Mumbai voters turned out to exercise their franchise. The figure is significantly lower than the state average of 63.40%.
While the figure seemed likely to be even lower in the early hours of the day, voting picked up in the last couple of hours.
Of the two Assembly seats, Airoli fared better with 51.33% voting, while Belapur stopped at 54.25%.
The city had witnessed a similar 51% voting in the Lok Sabha election held in April – lower than the 53% registered in the overall Thane Lok Sabha constituency and in most parts of the country. In April, Belapur had recorded a voter turnout of 50.82%, while Airoli had a turnout of 50.97%.
With both the main alliances in the state collapsing weeks before polling was due, the outcome of this election is highly uncertain. The results will also show whether voters in Navi Mumbai have been influenced by the Modi wave or local issues matter more to them, political analysts believe.
“It is sad that an educated city like Navi Mumbai, which boasts of high literacy rate, could not spare a few minutes to vote,” said BN Kumar, a PR professional. “At my polling booth in Dnyan Vikas school, Kopar Khairane, I went to cast my vote around 11am and was done within a few minutes. There was no queue,” said Kumar.
Mahesh Lal, a Vashi resident, said: “In the afternoon, there was absolutely no one in several booths. The election staff and the polling agents were resting. Despite the government declaring a holiday, people seemed to have used it for other activities, which is very sad.”