Mumbai residents faced delays, slow-paced voting process and long queues as the city went to polls on Monday amid sultry weather conditions, with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress raising concerns.
While at some places, people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning, left without casting their vote after waiting in the line for a long time, Sena (UBT) Chief, Uddhav Thackeray, alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately.
Polling was underway for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, including six in Mumbai city in the final phase of the general elections in Maharashtra.
A resident of Goregaon under Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency claimed, that he had to wait for 45 minutes to cast his vote. "I felt that the officials at the polling booth were taking long (to conduct the process)," he said.
A voter in Bimbisar Nagar in Goregaon East said, "I came to vote around noon, but it took nearly one and a half hours. I am a senior citizen, and still came to vote, but, it took longer than it had taken in 2019." Sultan Shaikh, a resident of Bhiwandi constituency near Mumbai, said, "I was told that my name is not there in the voters' list, so I could not vote." Vimal Thakkar, another Bhiwandi resident, claimed that the names of all six members of her household who are eligible to vote, were missing from the list. "It is the same polling booth where we had cast votes in the past. We visited other polling stations too, but our names were not in the lists there too," she said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) also alleged that some polling stations in Borivali, which falls under the Mumbai North constituency, witnessed long queues with people waiting for more than one hour to cast their vote.
"There is a lot of enthusiasm among voters, but the Election Commission, is acting in a partial manner. There is a delay by EC's representatives in certain areas," Uddhav Thackeray, alleged at a press conference in the afternoon.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member who was standing in a queue at a polling centre in Malad area of Mumbai, said, " Nearly 2,000 voters are expected to vote at one booth. The EC should have provided two machines (EVMs) to increase the pace. It looks like the EC is discouraging people from voting. People who have been standing since 7.30 am are able to vote at 10 am." Congress candidate from Mumbai North Central constituency Varsha Gaikwad said, "I have received complaints from voters that they do not have enough facilities at polling booths. Long queues and exposure to the heat are testing their patience. Some people have returned home without exercising their franchise." Mumbai recorded a maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius during the day.
