Maharashtra Assembly Elections: Sanjay Nirupam casts vote with family

As Maharashtra Assembly Elections are underway, senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam cast his vote along with his family in Versova on Monday. Nirupam did not contest the Assembly elections and had also refused to campaign for the party in Maharashtra stating, "The party does not require my services anymore." Recently, Nirupam had criticised the Congress party on many fronts including, lack of strategy for elections. He said, "There is no preparation in the Congress party to fight the elections. According to my knowledge, whatever advertisements are given in the newspapers are all worthless. There is no plan or strategy. I don't know who teaches them (the party) in Delhi, to change the PCC President right before the elections."

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Political leaders come out to vote

Many senior political leaders and contestants have come out to cast their votes in the elections. NCP's Ajit Pawar, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, BJP's Nitin Gadkari, and INC's Randeep Sujrewala were among the early voters in the day. Gadkari, after casting his vote, said, "Today we are celebrating the biggest festival of democracy. It's our right to exercise our vote. I would first tell everyone that I have voted with my family and I request everyone to vote by 6 PM today. I am confident that the work done by PM Modi in the last five years across the country and the work done by CM Devendra Fadnavis mean that the people will vote for our the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and it will come to power in record-breaking numbers.

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Piyush Goyal also cast his vote in Mumbai's Malabar Hill. Speaking to media, he said, "I am confident that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will win around 225 seats, opposition has lost all credibility and is nowhere in the contest. People are with Modi Ji and Fadnavis Ji." He also urged people to vote. He praised Mumbai BJP chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha and his developmental works in Malabar Hill. He said that people of Maharashtra will choose those who work for their benefit and their own benefit.

READ | Sanjay Nirupam Says Congress Won't Win More Than 3-4 Seats In Mumbai

Bollywood votes

Several B-town celebs were also spotted casting their votes. Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao were the first few who cast their vote, after which Madhur Bhandarkar, Dia Mirza, John Abraham, Riteish Deshmukh, Dharmendra, and many others followed. As many as 3,237 candidates, including 235 women, are contesting in 288 Assembly seats of the State. Polling began at 7 AM and will end at 6 PM.

READ | Watch: Piyush Goyal Predicts That BJP-Shiv Sena Will Win 225 Seats