Mumbai City District saw fall in no of voters in ten years

The Mumbai City District, which comprises ten assembly segments, is perhaps the only urban area in poll-bound Maharashtra which has seen a decline in the number of voters in the last ten years.

The reason is migration of population to the suburbs of Mumbai in the north or to the townships beyond, officials say.

It witnessed a population decline of 7.56 per cent as per the 2011 census.

In 2009, there were 26,87,166 voters, but the number fell to 24,57,195 in 2014.

As per the latest revision of voter rolls, there are 25,04,738 registered voters, which includes 13, 68,482 male, 11,35,777 females and 108 transgenders.

Another interesting feature is that there are 138 voters who are centenarian (100 or above), said Mumbai city district collector Shivaji Jondhle.

The voter turnout during the 2009 assembly polls was 43.79 per cent, which increased to 56.48 per cent in 2014. "We are targeting 60 per cent turnout this time," the collector said.

The polls are scheduled for October 21.

Webcasting of the polling process will be done from 260 polling stations, Jondhale said.

The Assembly constituencies in Mumbai City District are Colaba, Mumbadevi, Malabar Hill, Byculla, Shivdi and Worli which are part of the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat; and Dharavi, Sion Koliwada, Wadala and Mahim which are part of the Mumbai South-Central parliamentary constituency.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, both constituencies were won by the Shiv Sena.

Of the ten Assembly seats, the Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena had won three each and the AIMIM one seat in 2014.

Kalidas Kolambkar, the Congress MLA from Wadala, has joined the BJP, while Sachin Ahir, former minister and Mumbai NCP president who represented Worli seat till 2014, has crossed over to the Shiv Sena.

Speculation is rife that Aaditya Thackeray, Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's son, will make his electoral debut from Worli.

Raj Thackeray-led MNS had won Mahim and Shivdi in 2009 but drew a blank in 2014.