With 50.17 percent voter turnout in Mumbai South, it’s hard to predict which side Marathi voters will lean

The fourth and last phase in Maharashtra for Lok Sabha elections concluded on Monday, with Mumbaikars coming out in large numbers to vote. But even if 50.17 percent voter turnout was recorded in Mumbai South, it’s hard to predict to which side the Marathi voters will lean.
Shiv Sena MLA Ajay Choudhari told the DNA, “I have never seen an election like this in my 40 years in politics. It is tough to sense the public mood. This is a wave-less election.” On the other hand, a Sena activist from Parel told the DNA, “This election is for electing a stable government and a strong Prime Minister. There is anger against Sawant, but invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name will bring in incremental and fence-sitting votes, especially from non-Maharashtrians.”
On polling day in the Maharashtrian working-class ‘Girangaon’ belt comprising areas like Parel, Lalbaug and Byculla, that are central to the Shiv Sena’s plans to hold on to the seat, there is a feeling that Modi and the increasingly influential Gujarati, Marwadi and Jain voters may hold the cards.
But the Marathi voters were bit swayed by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s anti-Modi rallies. Former MNS MLA Bala Nandgaonkar told the leading DNA, “The irony is that while the BJP used Balasaheb’s name (late Sena chief Bal Thackeray) for votes, now the Sena is banking on Modi.”
The 17 seats were spread across Mumbai metropolitan region and parts of northern and western Maharashtra, having 3.11 crore voters and 323 candidates. In Mumbai South, Milind Deora was pitted against sitting Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant. Earlier, India’s richest man, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, and richest banker Uday Kotak recently endorsed Deora as their choice from Mumbai South.

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