LS polls: Galmour galore as Thackerays join Bollywood stars to vote in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The glamour quotient picked up in the fifth and final phase of Maharashtra Lok Sabha 2024 elections for 13 constituencies with many top politicians and Bollywood personalities trooping out along with many other celebs and commoners to cast their votes, here on Monday.

Voting got underway in all six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai at 7 a.m. with people queuing up outside polling stations to beat the heat.

Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, along with his wife Rashmi and sons Tejas and Aditya, came out to vote at a polling station in Bandra East.

For the first time, he is understood to have voted for a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally and Congress candidate Prof Varsha Gaikwad, who is pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ujjwal Nikam in Mumbai North Central seat.

“People are fed up with all the ‘jumla-baazi’ and are voting for a change… We are confident of getting more than 40 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra,” asserted Thackeray in a brief encounter with media persons, while son Aditya said that he voted in the interest of the country.

Estranged cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray, with his wife Sharmila and family, went to a polling station in Dadar and cast his vote. Former Union Minister Ram Naik, along with his family, voted in Goregaon, and Kapil Patil voted in Borivali.

LS candidates of major parties like Congress’ Prof Varsha Gaikwad and Bhushan Patil, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant, Anil Y. Desai, Sanjay Dina Patil, Amol G. Kirtikar, BJP’s Ujjwal Nikam, Piyush Goyal, Mihir Kotecha, Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Waikar, Yamini Y. Jadhav, Rahul Shewale, and other nominees of different parties or independents cast their votes.

Many candidates urged people to come out and vote as it is their duty and responsibility to the nation, as snaky queues were witnessed outside many polling stations in the city and suburbs.

Elsewhere, poet-filmmaker Gulzar cast his vote and other celebs like Sonali Bendre, Tabu, Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Zoya Akhtar, Suniel Shetty, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Esha Deol, Paresh Raval, Shubha Khote, Akshay Kumar, Jahnvi Kapoor and others were patiently waiting in queues for their turn to exercise their franchise.

For Akshay Kumar, 56, who was a Canadian national (2011-2023) and acquired his Indian citizenship last year, it was his maiden vote after getting his new credentials. He proudly pointed up his inked finger and appealed to the masses to come out and vote in large numbers.

In the final phase, 13 LS constituencies in Maharashtra are voting: Palghar (ST), Dindori (ST), Dhule, Nashik, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central and Mumbai South.