Maharashtra civic polls: Avinash Gowariker laments missing voting slips

Avinash Gowariker, brother of director Ashutosh Gowariker, highlighted the absence of voting slips at the 2026 Maharashtra civic elections, stating it caused significant delays and confusion, leading voters to leave polling stations.

Voter Disappointment Over Missing Slips

Director Ashutosh Gowariker's brother, Avinash Gowariker, who arrived early Thursday to vote in the 2026 Maharashtra civic elections, expressed his disappointment over the lack of "voting slips." Speaking to ANI about the arrangements, Gowariker said that although the venue was "comfortable" and there were no issues, the absence of "voting slips" caused delays and confusion at the polling stations.

"I voted today. Everything is good, the venue is comfortable, there's no problem with anything except the fact that there are no voting slips... I don't know why. Because of this, people are trying to find their voting numbers. So, each vote takes about 5 minutes..." he said.

He also added that while voters came with excitement, they were leaving due to the delays. "I'm feeling bad that so many people have come with so much enthusiasm... But they are met with these queues, so they're going back... I don't know why the parties this year haven't managed to issue the election slips. So that's the only concern..."

State-wide Civic Polls Underway

Meanwhile, polling is being held on Thursday across 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra. 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. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena are contesting the civic elections as allies under the Mahayuti banner, except in Pune, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has chosen to fight independently in most corporations.

Key Election Figures and Schedule

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 on Thursday, January 15, and will continue until 5:30 pm. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on Friday, January 16. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)