Maharashtra Assembly polls: Many corporate biggies fail to cast their vote

Business tycoons like Ratan Tata, N Chandrasekaran, the Ambani brothers, and Sajjan Jindal were conspicuous by their absence at the polling booths for Assembly elections that recorded 63 per cent turnout on Monday.

Their spokespersons said these leaders had unavoidable prior commitments, forcing them to stay out of the city on the important day. The island city alone sends as many as 38 legislators to the 288-member House.

Those who did cast their votes included Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra, HDFC Chief Executive Keki Mistry, Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala, and M&M Managing Director Pawan Goenka who also appealed to citizens to cast exercise their domestic right. The polls saw a voter turnout of around 63 percent, almost matching the 63.38 percent polling recorded in the last elections held in 2014.

According to official sources, Tata and Chandrasekaran and Jindal were not in town.

Jindal, however, took to Twitter to appeal to voters to exercise their rights saying, “I urge each and every one of you to exercise your duty towards our democracy.” 

The Ambani brothers — Mukesh and Anil — who normally come out with their families on polling day, did not cast their votes this time around. Why they did not make it this time around is not known yet.