As voting began for 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra on Monday amidst heightened security, Bollywood celebrities including Ravi Kishan, Padmini Kolhapure and Subha Khote were among the early voters in Mumbai.
Ravi Kishan arrived at the Mumbai's Goregaon & Andheri (West) constituency to cast his vote. The actor-turner-politician also urged people to exercise their franchise in order to make India a "superpower".
"It's my and everyone's right to vote as this is the only way to give power to the government in order to grow our country as a superpower," the BJP lawmaker told ANI. Actor Padmini Kolhapure was also present in the same area of Mumbai to exercise her franchise.
She too requested her fans to come out and vote as she believes "voting is very important for the betterment of India and for the betterment of each human being."
"I have a flight to catch but I arrived half an early to cast my vote because voting is very important for the betterment of India and for the betterment of each human being," said the 53-year-old actor.
Veteran actor Shubha Khote was among the early voters at the Andheri West constituency.
She urged everyone, especially the youngsters, to vote wisely. "People, especially the young ones must cast their votes wisely so that they do not have anything to complain later," said the veteran.
Elections began on 288 constituencies of Maharashtra at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Counting of votes will be held on October 24.
We have voted in #Latur.... I urge every voter to go out & vote. #maharashtra #elections
A post shared by Riteish Deshmukh (@riteishd) on Oct 20, 2019 at 9:54pm PDT
In Mumbai, 9,894 polling stations have been set up at 1,537 locations. 36 out of 288 seats come in the city of Mumbai where 334 candidates are in the fray. The city has 97.72 lakh registered voters.
Mumbai come out and exercise your right to vote!! #voteresponsibily #sustainabledevelopment
A post shared by Lara Dutta Bhupathi (@larabhupathi) on Oct 20, 2019 at 9:01pm PDT
Overall in the 288-member Assembly, BJP is contesting on 164 seats, which includes candidates of smaller allies contesting on its lotus symbol, while its key ally Shiv Sena has fielded 126 candidates.
On the other hand, Congress has its candidates in 147 constituencies and NCP will contest 121 seats.
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