Maharashtra civic body polls: Bandra & Santacruz voters trickle in, blame lack of info on change in booths

MUMBAI: After a slow start in the morning, the H-West ward —which includes parts of Bandra, Khar and Santacruz West, and corporator wards 97-102—saw voting pick up later in the day. It touched 35-40% by 3.30pm on Thursday.

Bandra resident Lillian Paes complained that several voters found their names in booths different from the previous polls. "Change in polling booths, ward boundaries, or the number of booths should have been widely publicised in newspapers—people do not check the BMC website daily. Vote-from-home should be available across elections. Immobile senior citizens felt their votes did not matter. There were also discrepancies where applications made after July 1, 2025, were updated and new voter ID cards issued, but voting was conducted using old rolls," said Paes.


Another Bandra resident said, "There were only six people in front of me at my booth compared to nearly 300 during the national polls. It appears voters have disengaged from local politics."

The ward, which is also home to several Bollywood celebrities, saw actors Aamir Khan, son Junaid and daughter Ira, and Suniel Shetty, among others, step out to vote during the morning hours. Ira said, "Everything was handled smoothly, there was water, a place to sit." When asked if it is imperative for the elected corporator to address civic issues such as traffic and roads, she agreed and said, "Zaroori hai, which is why you should vote." Junaid seconded her: "We have to vote if we want change." Accompanied by their mother Reena, the siblings cast their vote at the St Anne's School polling booth. Former BJP corporator Swapna Mhatre who was at the booth said, "If people come out to vote, I will surely win again. The locality has been very supportive."

Maria D'souza who lives around Mount Mary School said there were complaints that a voting machine was not working.

Actor Amrita Arora Ladak who cast her vote at the Mount Mary School polling centre hoped for better roads and traffic control. "We are one community, we are citizens of this country and today is a very important day... We get the opportunity to make all wrongs right..."