Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Mumbai's Colaba Follows Its Historic Tradition Of Low Voter Turnout As Constituency Fares At 41%

Colaba constituency which is known for its historically low voter turnout maintained its tradition as the constituency saw one of the lowest voter turnout in the state. However, the constituency’s voter turnout increased marginally from 40% in 2019 to 41% in 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections.

Colaba, one of the most upscale localities of Mumbai, has historically recorded a very low voter turnout in Maharashtra. In most of the elections, it has struggled to cross 50% voter turnout. In 2014, Colaba saw 46.19% of the total voters turning up to the polling centres which fell down drastically to 40% in the 2019 elections. However, the constituency’s voter turnout increased marginally to 41% by 5pm, according to the Election Commission’s statistics published at the time of report.

Colaba constituency has also had a history of having one of the lowest voter turnout in the state. In 2019, Colaba was on the bottom of the list with 40% voter turnout. However, Colaba managed to save itself from being at the bottom-most as Kalyan West constituency recorded the lowest voter turnout in this election until 5% at 41%.

Colaba saw a one-sided fight between BJP’s Rahul Narwekar, who is a known face in the constituency and the speaker of Maharashtra assembly, and Congress’ Heera Devasi, who is a new name in the constituency and had lost against BJP’s Mangal Prabhat Lodha from Malabar Hill in 2019 elections.

Suneel Bhatnagar, past honorary secretary of Nariman Point Churchgate Citizens Association (NPCCA), said, “I cannot figure out what was the harm in voting. If people think that they have to stand in long queues, that was not the case this time as the process was very well organised and the election staff was very courteous and disciplined. My son came from Kalina and daughter from Worli and all three of us casted our vote together.”