Andheri East bypoll: Meagre 31.74% voter turnout recorded; counting on Nov 6

A voting turnout of 31.74 per cent was recorded in Andheri East Assembly bypoll. The counting of votes will be conducted on November 6. Shiv Sena's Rutuja Latke is expected to comfortably win Andheri East Assembly constituency in Mumbai after the BJP withdrew from the contest which is the first after the recent split in the Shiv Sena following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who replaced Thackeray as the Maharashtra chief minister. The NCP and Congress have supported her candidature.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Latke's husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May. Polling began at 7 a.m. and continued till 6 p.m. at 256 polling booths. The day started on a dull note with 3.61% voter turnout in the first two hours. At 11 a.m., 9.72% voting was recorded; at 1 p.m., it was 16.89%; the turnout was 22.85% till 3 p.m.,; and an hour before the deadline at 5 p.m., it was 28.77%.Earlier in the day, Ms. Latke exercised her franchise at the Chinai College booth. 

The run-up to the by election saw much political drama. Latke an employee of the BMC, approached the Bombay High Court on October 12 as the civic authority was not accepting her resignation. The next day, the court directed the BMC to issue a letter of acceptance to Ms. Latke, paving the way for her to file the nomination papers. The Uddhav group also alleged she was being pressured to contest as the candidate of the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena.