Mumbai:
Mumbai has registered the highest-ever polling in over a decade with 52 per cent of voters exercising their franchise - not just better than the last Lok Sabha election, but better than the last three Assembly elections.
Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Gulzar turned out in full force to vote in the Maharashtra Assembly polls and sent a message - election is a tool of change and don't waste your ballot.
The stars that also included Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham came out in droves from their air-conditioned homes to wait in queue patiently for their turn to vote. They hoped that the winning parties deliver all that is promised.
Film star John Abraham, lyricist Javed Akhtar and his actress wife Shabana Azmi were among the early voters. John voted in Bandra while Akhtar and Shabana did so in Juhu.
Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri exercised their franchise in Bandra. Amitabh was accompanied by wife Jaya Bachchan.
"We are a democracy so we should vote for a party and hope that that party comes together and delivers all that is good. There are lot of issues move from the simplest ones of cleanliness to the economic and the build up of the infrastructure of Mumbai but you basically hope for good and honest governance," said Shah Rukh Khan.
Priyanka Chopra, who was accompanied by her father Dr Ashok Chopra, said she expected the new government to understand the problems of the youth.
"Thrust on education, infrastructure, environment and cleanliness is what I expect," she said.
Stressing the importance of vote as an instrument of change, John said infrastructure in Mumbai needed an overhaul. Filmmaker Karan Johar cast his vote in Malabar hill.
Amitabh and Jaya, a Samajwadi party MP, cast their votes at Jamnabai Narsee school polling booth in Juhu The couple arrived at the polling booth at 1645 hrs, 15 minutes before the close of voting.
The star who celebrated his 67th birthday on Sunday was in New Delhi on Monday.
Aamir turned up at the polling booth in Bandra west a couple of minutes before 4 PM while Akshay Kumar exercised his franchise at Juhu.
Talking to reporters after casting his vote, Aamir said a candidate should be declared elected only if he has polled 51 per cent of the votes in his constituency. "This will ensure that the winning candidate represents all sections of the society," he said.
To a question on the politics around "Marathi" issue, Aamir said he was scared of politicians who use caste and religion to divide the society.
Among the other film personalities who exercised their vote as citizens included Anupam Kher, Zayed Khan, Arshad Warsi, and Ranjeet.