Mumbai: There was more than one star out in the daytime on Monday, except that the ones on the ground had to brave the one in the sky as they set off to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections.
Actors Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Mumbai North Congress candidate Urmila Matondkar and Pankaj Tripathi, among others, cast their ballot. After voting, actors also took to social media to encourage others to exercise their right to vote.
Polling booths at Bandra and Lokhandwala were the spots where the stars lined up to get inked on Monday. Actors Priyanka, Amitabh and Kangana had taken a break from their busy shooting schedules to return to the city for the express purpose of voting. They then posted pictures of their inked fingers on social networking websites, exhorting others to do the same.
Veteran singer Asha Bhosale, who is reportedly unwell, had come all the way from Dubai, leaving her treatment, only to cast her vote. The Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani with his wife Nita Ambani and children, exercised their right to vote at Peddar road.
Apart from voting, celebrities even urged citizens to go and caste their votes. The celebs took to social media, particularly, Twitter. “Voting this year has been so much more special for me with Sara and Arjun voting for the first time. I urge you all to go out and vote too,” tweeted Tendulkar, after voting at Bandra west.
Actor Kangana Ranaut walked into the Khar polling booth, clad in a blue saree and briefly held forth on importance of voting. Ranaut said, “It’s a very important day. This day comes once in five years, so please make use of this. I feel India is gaining independence in the real sense, as before this, we were servants of Mughal, British and Italian governments. So please exercise your right and vote.”
Kareena Kapoor Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi, Varun Dhawan and his father, director David Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt with wife Manyata, veteran singer Asha Bhosle, writers and lyricists Javed Akhtar and Gulzar too exercised their democratic right. Posting a selfie of her inked finger on Twitter, Priyanka wrote, “This is the moment that matters…. Every vote is a voice that counts. #LokSabhaElections2019.”
Madhuri appealed people to use their vote wisely. She tweeted, “Voting is our right, let’s use it wisely! The future of our country is in our hands. Let’s do our duty and #VoteForIndia.” Students of The Year 2 Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria also voted before flying to Ahmedabad for work. Salman Khan tweeted using the hashtag #VoteKarMumbai and said, “I have voted……Have u? #VoteKarMumbai.”
