While stars like Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, and Salman Khan were seen casting their votes, several other A-listers chose not to vote on Thursday. Among the notable absentees were megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, and Abhishek Bachchan. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan also appeared to have skipped voting, as did Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his family, according to reports.
Which celebrities were missing from the BMC elections?
The Bachchans were not seen casting their vote. Neither was Shah Rukh Khan or members of his family. Madhuri Dixit was another big name who was not spotted at any polling booth. Actors Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Ajay Devgn, and Farhan Akhtar were also absent from the voting process. Sonakshi Sinha, Kajol, Karan Johar, and Rani Mukerji, too, seemed to have given the elections a miss on Thursday.
The reasons behind their absence were not immediately known, as none of the stars addressed skipping the polls publicly.
Celebrities who turned up to vote
Thursday did see a good turnout from Bollywood. Akshay Kumar, Hema Malini and Vishal Dadlani were among the early voters. Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Shraddha Kapoor, Sonali Bendre, Sanya Malhotra, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karisma Kapoor, and Saif Ali Khan were among those spotted at polling booths.
Veteran poet and lyricist Gulzar drew admiration as he cast his vote at the age of 91 and even appealed to others to vote. Saira Banu and Shabana Azmi were also spotted at their respective polling booths, casting their vote.
In pics: BMC Elections 2026: Bollywood celebrities cast their vote
About the BMC elections
Polling for the 29 municipal corporations began on January 15 at 7: 30 am and concluded at 5:30 pm. Across Maharashtra, elections were held in major municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Amravati, Akola, Latur, Jalgaon, Dhule, Jalna, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Nanded-Waghala, Panvel, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Malegaon, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Ichalkaranji, Ahilyanagar, and Ulhasnagar.