Steady voting, high turnout of minorities in Maharashtra

Mumbai, April 24: Encouraging voting figures were seen in all 19 Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra Thursday with high turnout in minority-dominated pockets in Mumbai and other parts of the state, officials said here Thursday.

According to figures tabulated at 11 a.m., the tribal constituency of Nandurbar recorded 21 percent voting followed by Raigad at 19 percent, while the four seats in Thane lagged behind with around 10 percent polling.

Mumbai's six constituencies recorded low to medium voting with long queues of voters witnessed at polling stations in the city.

While Mumbai North recorded the highest around 18 percent, Mumbai South notched just 14 percent, and other city constituencies recording around 16 percent voting.

High turnout was witnessed in the minority pockets in various Mumbai constituencies with Muslims making it a point to come out with families to exercise their franchise.

Elsewhere in Maharashtra, long queues of tribals were seen in various polling centres in Nandurbar, the traditional Congress bastion, since the start of voting hours.

In Aurangabad and Dhule which have a large minority population, Muslim voters came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

However, Thane's four constituencies displayed disappointing voting trends with around 10 percent polling in Palghar and Kalyan, 11 at Bhiwandi, and 10 percent voting percentage in Thane, far below the state averages.

IANS