Elections for 227 municipal wards in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in which 2,275 candidates are in the fray, began at 7.30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Over 1.95 crore voters across the State are entitled to exercise their franchise to choose representatives for 10 city corporations, while over 1.80 crore people can cast their votes in the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls.
The districts going to polls in the second phase are Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Solapur, Nashik, Amravati and Gadchiroli. Elections are being held in 118 panchayat samitis in these districts.
The 10 municipal corporations include Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Nashik, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur.
As many as 43,160 polling booths have been set up.
Counting of votes will be taken up on February 23.
Updates are from our reporters Sharad Vyas, Shoumojit Banerjee, and Sonam Saigal and with PTI inputs.
Mumbai records 52.17% turnout in the Maharashtra civic body polls as voting ends at 5.30.p.m. Polling figures for the other municipal corporations are Thane 53.11% , Ulhasnagar 46.83%, Nashik 52.63%, Pune 49.52%, Pimpri-Chinchwad 51.86%, Solapur 44%, Akola 51.62%, Amravati 42.39% and Nagpur 49.95%.
Nagpur records 49.95% turnout as voting concludes at 5.30 p.m., reports our correspondent Pavan Dahat.
PTI reports:
First eight hours of polling sees 42.8% turnout in the 10 municipal corporations across Maharashtra.
The turnout for Zilla Parishads is 48.25% till 3.30 p.m.
Mumbai records 41.32%, closer to the overall figure of 45% in 2012. Poll officials expect overall percentage to eclipse that of the last time when voting ends at 5.30 p.m.
About 17% voters have exercised their franchise in the first four hours in the 10 Corporations, PTI reports quoting officials.
The 11 Zilla Parishads record 23.9% voting till 11.30 a.m. Polling is underway in 43,160 polling stations spread across the State.
NCP president Sharad Pawar is among the early voters in Mumbai. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray votes in Bandra along with his family.
BJP leaders Ashish Shelar, MP Poonam Mahajan and Shaina NC, Sena leader and former Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and MNS chief Raj Thackeray vote in Mumbai.
In Nagpur, early voters included RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, his wife and mother vote in Nagpur’s Dharampeth area.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro, Joint Police Commissioner Deven Bharti, Election Commissioner K.S. Saharia, BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta vote in Mumbai.
Actors Anushka Sharma, Rekha, Shreyas Talpade, Prem Chopra, Shraddha Kapoor, Manyata Dutt; filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Gulzar, Subhash Ghai and Kunal Kapoor are among the film celebrities who voted in Mumbai.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, his wife Anjali and former cricketer Sandeep Patil also exercise their franchise.
Meanwhile, in Nashik, some voters whose names were found missing from voters’ list in Mhasrul locality staged a rasta roko, police said.
In Mumbai, NCP chief Sharad Pawar was among those who voted early as polling began at a brisk pace this morning.
Pawar voted at a polling booth in Ward 214 here which incidentally doesn’t have an NCP candidate. - PTI
“The release of list of voters got delayed and there was also a change in polling booths. All this may have an impact on elections,” BJP Mumbai unit president Ashish Shelar told reporters after casting his vote in suburban Bandra.
He claimed that many voters have also not received their voting slip, which has prevented them from exercising their franchise.
MNS Chief Raj Thackeray said that like people should exercise their right to cast their votes, political parties should also work as promised by them during poll campaigning.
Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe said every election is different as per the context at the local and national level, and the social and political fabric is changing towards tolerance and local development issues. - PTI
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis casts his vote.
Voting till 11:30 a.m.:
Pune - 19.5%
Mumbai - 16.04%
Thane - 19.30%
Solapur - 24%
Akola - 15%
Pimpri Chinchwad - 20.73%
Nashik - 18.5%
Ulhasnagar - 12.87%
Amravati - 19.58%
Nagpur - 16.00%
A voting machine malfunctions in ward no. 21 at Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, causing activists from the Raj Thackeray - led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to stop the voting process.
8.07% voting recorded up to 9.30 a.m. in Mumbai.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, wife Rashmi and sons Aditya and Tejas voted at a booth near their residence in suburban Bandra.
MNS Chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi cast their votes at a polling station in Shivaji Park, Mumbai.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari cast his vote for Nagpur Municipal Corporation polls, at a booth located in Nagpur's Town Hall.
Former Union Home Minister and senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde cast his vote for civic body polls in Solapur.
10% voting for Pune Municipal Corporation till 10 a.m. Nearly 27 lakh voters are expected to exercise their mandate across 41 panels for the 162-seat civic body.
While no holiday has been given to IT sector professionals, many employees have been given a two-hour break during the voting period to cast their vote, informed Anil Patwardhan, president, Hinjewadi Industries Association.
Mumbai witnesses cheerful nonagenarians who came out to cast their vote.
Actor Paresh Rawal did not find his name in the voting list at Juhu for the BMC elections. Fashion designer Shaina NC arrived to cast her vote at Napean Sea Road polling booth on a cycle; she could not find her name in the voter's list as well.
Pune civic polls: Robust turnout to high-stakes. There were complaints of names missing from voter lists in some corners of the city.
Incumbent Mayor Prashant Jagtap of the NCP cast his vote from the city's Wanowrie panel.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar casts his vote at P. Jog School at Kothrud, Pune.
Peaceful polling began in Mumbai. Civic officials said that a mock poll was done on all voting machines by 6.30 a.m., and voter data list was cleared after careful vetting.