Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 15 : Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hema Malini on Thursday cast her vote in the ongoing Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections in Mumbai and urged citizens to exercise their right to vote.
She said Mumbai is the best city in the world, and only by exercising their right to vote, citizens will be able to make it even better.
"I urge everyone to come out and vote. Just like I came this morning to vote. If you want security, progress, clean air, and pothole-free roads in Mumbai, then we all have to take responsibility and vote. Only by exercising your right to vote will you be able to make Mumbai, which I believe is the best city in the world, even better. I request all the citizens of Mumbai to come and vote for the right people," Malini told reporters.
29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra have gone to the polls today as a high-voltage campaign came to an end, setting the stage for a decisive political contest in key urban centres including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
The Mahayuti is contesting the local body polls largely together, except in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, where the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has chosen to ally with Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP).
In Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, both NCP factions have come together under a joint manifesto.
The main political battle remains centred on Mumbai and Pune, where the BJP-led Mahayuti will face the united Thackeray camp, as just ahead of the civic polls, Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray joined hands on the issue of "son of the soil" in a high-stakes fight for control of the BMC, the country's richest civic body.
The last BMC elections were held in 2017.
In Pune, in a major political realignment, both factions of the NCP came together just before the civic polls for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), following a split in 2023. Ajit Pawar joined hands with Sharad Pawar again and contested against the NDA partner BJP in Pune, whereas Shivsena, led by Eknath Shidne opted to go solo in PMC after failing to set up an acceptable seat-sharing formula with BJP.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), 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 39092 Polling centre has been set up across the state.
Polling will be held on January 15 from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, with vote counting scheduled to begin on Friday, January 16.