Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das and leading captains of industry cast their votes in the financial capital for the Maharashtra Assembly elections on Wednesday. Das exercised his franchise with his wife at a booth near his official residence in south Mumbai and complimented the election officials for the arrangements they had made.
Former chairman of HDFC, Deepak Parekh, also voted at a booth in a south Mumbai neighbourhood and appealed to everybody to vote, pointing to his swift experience at the booth.
Amid concerns about low turnouts repeatedly in the financial capital, the outspoken financial services industry veteran questioned the reasons for the reluctance to participate in the process despite incentives like a public holiday being thrown in. Keki Mistry, Parekh's long-time colleague who retired as the vice chairman and chief executive of HDFC, also exercised his franchise at another booth nearby.
Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran also cast his vote in south Mumbai and called voting a privilege that everybody should exercise. Industrialist Ajay Piramal also voted along with his wife Swati near his residence in the financial capital. After stepping out, Piramal also urged all the voters to come out and exercise their franchise.
Swati Piramal, an author, said the new government needs to focus on children, women's issues, and health.
Textile and realty major Raymond's Gautam Singhania and construction-focused HCC's Ajit Gulabchand were also among the other notable captains of the industry who had voted till about 3 pm.
Not just industry stalwarts, but even Bollywood stars also came out to cast their votes during the day. Actors Shradha Kapoor, Padmini Kolhapure, Tusshar Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Sonu Sood, Akshay Kumar, Rajkumar Rao, and Genelia Deshmukh exercised their right to vote. Cricketer Surya Kumar Yadav also cast his vote.
