Captains of India Inc, including Ratan Tata and Adi Godrej, today voted in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, and sought a stable government to address the infrastructure needs of the megapolis and push growth in the state.
"We want change in Mumbai, which has been neglected for long...The infrastructure has crumbled. We need to make Mumbai more attractive for companies, for people to come and live here," HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said after casting his vote in polling booth in the tony Peddar Road area.
Parekh, who could not vote in the recent Lok Sabha polls after his name was found missing from the voters' list, was among the earliest top honchos to vote.
Gitanjali Gems Chairman Mehul Choksi, after casting his vote, said: "What is more important is that a single party government should come to power".
Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej said: "I think the BJP's position will be good, especially after the campaigning done by the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). It will also be good for the state's progress if the state and the Centre work in tandem".
Others industry captains who cast their vote included Anil Ambani, Ajay Piramal, Ratan Tata, Keki Mistry, Arundhati Bhattacharya, N Chandrasekaran, Chanda Kochhar and dealmaker Nimesh Kampani.
ICICI Bank's Kochhar said a "progressive and growth- oriented government" is needed. It is everybody's "duty and responsibility" to vote, she added.
Bhattacharya, who heads the country's largest lender SBI, said the new government should focus on growth and stability.
"We have to look at education and infrastructure; we have to look at how we can make Bombay the top city in the world. Maharashtra is a large state with enormous potential for industrial development, we need to look holistically on people and talent development," Chandrasekaran of TCS, the largest IT exporter, said after casting his vote in Worli.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan apparently could not vote as he had many pre-scheduled engagements in Hyderabad.
Polling for the 288-seat Assembly was held in single-phase today. Over 4,000 candidates are in the fray, whose political fortunes will be decided by over 8 crore registered voters in a multi-cornered fight.
