Maharashtra Civic Polls 2026: Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna, Sachin Tendulkar, And Other Celebs Cast Their Votes In Mumbai

Polling is being held on Thursday across 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra. The elections are taking place after an intense campaign and are seen as crucial for major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Akshay Kumar and his wife, Twinkle Khanna, were among the first celebs to reach a polling booth in the morning to cast their vote. Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was also snapped exiting the polling booth after casting his vote.

Celebs cast their vote in the ongoing Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections

Akshay Kumar arrived at the Gandhi Shikshan Bhavan polling station in Mumbai to complete the voting process. After casting his vote, Akshay spoke to reporters outside the polling station and emphasised the importance of voting, and encouraged people to take part in the election process. He said, "Today, the voting for BMC is taking place. As Mumbaikars, we have the remote control with us today. I would request all the people of Mumbai to come out in large numbers and cast their votes. If we have to be the real heroes of Mumbai, we shouldn't do dialoguebaazi, instead come out and cast out votes."

Twinkle Khanna also spoke to the media stationed outside the polling booth after casting her vote. She said, "I think it gives us a sense of control, a little bit of power over the narrative, and I am voting both out of habit and hope."

Sachin Tendulkar happily posed for the media, showing off his inked finger and addressed the media, emphasising that this is an important election. "This is a very important election. It gives us a chance where we can express our opinion through votes. Everyone should come out and cast their votes."

Popular photographer Avinash Gowariker, brother of producer Ashutosh Gowariker, was also snapped exiting the polling booth after casting his vote. He addressed the media, highlighting that there was no voting slip at his polling booth, causing a slight chaos. "I voted today. Everything is good, the venue is comfortable, there's no problem with anything except the fact that there are no voting slips... I don't know why. Because of this, people are trying to find their voting numbers. So each vote takes about 5 minutes... I'm feeling bad that so many people have come with so much enthusiasm... But they are met with these cues, so they're going back... I don't know why the parties this year haven't managed to put out the election slips. So that's the only concern," he told ANI.

According to the State Election Commission, a total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots to decide the fate of 15,908 candidates contesting 2,869 seats across 893 wards in 29 municipal corporations. A total of 39,092 polling centres have been set up across the state.

Polling began at 7:30 am on Thursday and will continue until 5:30 pm. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on Friday, January 16. 

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