Union Minister K. Chiranjeevi and his daughter, had to beat a hasty retreat and join the queue in a polling booth in the posh Jubilee Hills area in Hyderabad after voters expressed their ire over the VIP’s attempt to jump the queue.
A Cambridge-based young IT professional, Raja Karthik Ganta, who came all the way from London to cast his vote, confronted Mr. Chiranjeevi and objected when his family members, including actor-son Ramcharan Tej tried to jump the queue even as rest of the voters were standing in the queue.
Mr. Chiranjeevi, however, denied that he tried to bypass the queue and clarified that he went inside the booth to find out if his name was in the electoral rolls in view of the problems he had faced in the last elections.
Talking to The Hindu , Mr. Raja Karthik said he had been waiting for about one-and-half hours since 8 a.m. to cast his vote when he suddenly saw Mr. Chiranjeevi with a horde of TV cameramen in tow. He,then, noticed that his family members also followed him. "I felt it was not fair because I am also a resident and he was also a resident."
He went up to the Union Minister and told him that his family members should join the queue to cast their votes. Mr. Chiranjeevi replied “OK” with folded hands and said he was sorry. He then along with his daughter stood in the queue for about 25 minutes before casting vote. During the melee, however, his wife and Mr. Ramcharan exercised their franchise.
Mr. Raja Karthik contended that in case a VIP was alone, he could be given priority but not the entire family. “Politicians should educate people instead of people educating politicians”, he added.
After the incident, many voters applauded the action of Mr. Karthik.
