Anup Jalota, Zoya Akhtar, other celebs vote in Mumbai civic polls

Renowned singer Anup Jalota, filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, and other celebrities like Suniel Shetty and John Abraham stepped out to vote in the BMC elections in Mumbai, encouraging citizens to participate in the crucial civic polls across Maharashtra.

Celebrities cast their vote

Renowned devotional singer Anup Jalota on Thursday stepped out to fulfil his voting duty in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. He showed off his inked finger after casting a vote. "Mumbai ko aur sundar banayenge, chamkayenge.., " he said while asking the people to fulfil their responsibility and actively participate in the elections. Director and producer Zoya Akhtar also cast her vote in Mumbai.

Many other celebrities, including Suniel Shetty, singer and music composer Vishal Dadlani, noted lyricist Gulzar, and John Abraham, also turned up to fulfil their voting duties.

Maharashtra civic polls underway

Polling across 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra began early this morning. The elections are taking place after an intense campaign and are seen as crucial for major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Key political alliances

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena are contesting the civic elections as allies under the Mahayuti banner, except in Pune. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has chosen to fight independently in most corporations. In Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, both NCP factions have come together under a joint manifesto.

Election by the numbers

According to the State Election Commission, a total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots to decide the fate of 15,908 candidates contesting 2,869 seats across 893 wards in 29 municipal corporations. A total of 39,092 polling centres have been set up across the state.

Polling began at 7:30 am today and is set to continue until 5:30 pm. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place tomorrow. (ANI)

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