This Article is From Oct 13, 2009

Led by celebrities, Mumbai votes big

Led by celebrities, Mumbai votes big
Mumbai: It may be known as the city that's constantly on the go, but when it comes to voting, Mumbai has been virtually comatose in the recent past.

But you can put away that life support system because Mumbai's recovered. A 50% voter turnout in Tuesday's elections give the city new bragging rights. After all, that's higher than the last 3 state elections, and the general elections in May.

Who's to thank? The government had asked for a paid holiday for the city, a move that corporates were not entirely happy with. Malls were shut, and multiplexes were closed.

As always, the queues were longer in slums than middle class pockets.

"Despite giving people the day off it is sad the educated people have not come and voted" said Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC Bank.

The same could not be said of Bollywood. The Three Khans (Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman) played the city's real-life leading men. Sanjay Dutt voted, so did Priyanka Chopra.

Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Ambani were among the earliest voters in the city.
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