The V-day holiday certainly came as a much-awaited off for shopaholics and for those desperately wanting to get away from the city.

While many chose to cast their votes and rush to Laxmi Road for Diwali shopping, getaway spots like Mahabaleshwar, Matheran and Sinhagad witnessed a remarkable rise in the number of visitors since Tuesday morning.

“We cast our votes at Yashwantrao School in Kothrud and decided to come out for Diwali shopping which I was eagerly waiting for,” said Amit Gosavi, a software professional.

Like Gosavi, Vinayak Prabhu, a resident of Sinhagad Road registered his vote in Parvati constituency and rushed to Laxmi Road. “I voted early morning and went shopping for Diwali. Though many shops were closed in the morning, they opened during the later half,” said Prabhu.

Shops that remained closed during the first half of the day, made up for their losses in the evening rush.

“We were against the election-day shutdown as Diwali season is the most lucrative season for shopowners. However, after opening the shop at 3 pm, I found the rush was much more than on a normal week day. In fact, each of my sales person has been attending two customers at a time since afternoon,” said Subhash Jain, partner, Men’s Avenue.

Though Ranka Jewellers opened their shop at 4.30 pm, they made up for it delay. “Most of our customers were aware that we were closed during the first half of the day. So, they came in the evening,” said Shailesh Ranka, director, Ranka Jewellers.

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