Maharasthra Polls: Commoners, celebrities rub shoulders

Commoners, celebrities, politicians and who's who rubbed shoulders in Mumbai as Maharashtra went to polls on Monday.

Batting maestro Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, the three big Khans of Bollywood, the Bachchan-family, members of Kapoor-khandaan lyricist Gulzar, composer Pyarelal ji were among those who came out to vote. 

Celebrities spread the message on the importance of voting and are counted.

Most of the celebrities voted in the Bandra-Andheri-Goregaon western suburbs of Mumbai.

Fans cheered as they saw Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri, and Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao,  going to their respective polling stations.

"Have you voted? #MaharashtraAssemblyElections" tweeted actress-model Madhuri Dixit-Nene,  who is the 'goodwill ambassador' of Maharashtra polls,  and displayed her inked finger. 

Tendulkar said: "For a better tomorrow, it is necessary to exercise your voting rights today, I urge everyone to come out and cast their vote."

"I urge people to come out in large numbers and vote," appealed Aamir.

Activist celebrity couple Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar too exercised their franchise.

NCP founder-president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, his estranged cousin and MNS president Raj Thackeray too voted in Mumbai.

Actress Kareena Kapoor was seen walking into the polling station with son Taimur. 

Actress-turned-politician Smriti Irani posted a selfie with a 93-year-old war veteran,  who had come out to vote. 

Actor-couple Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia voted in their hometown of Latur. Ritesh's elder brother Amit is contesting polls from Latur City while younger brother Dhiraj Deshmukh from Latur Rural. 

Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupati and his wife model-actress Lara Dutta, a Miss India, too voted and requested people to vote. 

Actress Deepika Padukone showed indelible ink mark on her finger. 

Others included Prem Chopra, Govinda, Subhash Ghai, Anil Kapoor, Varun Dhavan, John Abraham, Padmini Kolhapure, Vidya Balan, Dia Mirza, Meghna Gulzar, and Vinod Kambli. 

Jaya Bachchan,  her son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai too voted. 

Actress-activist Urmila Matondkar said: "Voting is not just outright but our duty. Celebration of our democracy. Please go out and vote."

Celebrities posted photos of inked fingers on social media platforms like Twitter,  Instagram and Facebook,  which got lakhs of likes.

Meerut BJP MP Hema Malini voted in Mumbai.