Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha Election 2024: Voter Turnout Drops by 1.80% in Tight Shewale-Desai Contest

Although Mumbai saw an overall increase in voter turnout compared to previous elections, the South Central Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency experienced a 1.80% decline in turnout compared to 2019. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, this constituency recorded a 55.4% turnout, whereas only 53.60% of voters cast their ballots in the election held on Monday. This decrease raises questions about which party will benefit from the reduced turnout.

In this constituency, Rahul Shewale from the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena is competing against Anil Desai from the Uddhav faction. Rahul Shewale has been the elected MP from this constituency since 2014. However, the political landscape was different in the 2014 and 2019 elections. In both those elections, Shewale was the candidate for the then-unified Shiv Sena and faced direct competition from Congress's Eknath Gaikwad. Now, after the split in Shiv Sena, the constituency witnesses a Shiv Sena versus Shiv Sena battle.

The South Central Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency includes assembly segments like Dharavi, Wadala, and Sion-Koliwada, which are socio-economically lower strata areas, as well as Mahim, Chembur, and Anushakti Nagar, which are predominantly middle-class areas. In the previous elections, votes from Dharavi, Wadala, and Sion-Koliwada were divided between Shewale and Gaikwad, while Mahim, Chembur, and Anushakti Nagar provided substantial support to Shewale. However, this year, such unilateral support from these three assembly segments seems unlikely.

On Monday, voting proceeded sluggishly in some polling stations in Dharavi, Wadala, and Sion-Koliwada, causing frustration among many voters who returned home without casting their votes. This resulted in a lower turnout in these three assembly segments.

Voter Turnout by Assembly Constituency

The table above illustrates the voter turnout in various assembly constituencies within the South Central Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency, highlighting a general decline from the 2019 figures.