Bollywood actors Vidya Balan, Aamir Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Dharmendra and lyricist Prasoon Joshi cast their votes here on Thursday.
“It is my responsibility to vote. If tomorrow I am faced with a problem and I want to point my finger at someone, then I need to have this [voter mark],” Vidya Balan said to the media in Chembur.
Infamous recordActor Aamir Khan too stressed the need for people to come out and vote, considering Mumbai is infamous for its comparatively low voter turnout.
“Me coming out to vote is my duty as an Indian. I would like to appeal to all Indians to come out and vote. It is important for every Indian to be a part of this process,” he said.
Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Shilpa Shetty, Kunal Kapoor, Shreya Ghoshal, Dia Mirza, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, John Abraham and Riteish Deshmukh were other celebrities who cast their vote.
Many took to Twitter to urge people to vote and actors Rahul Bose, Raveena Tandon, Sonam Kapoor and director Kunal Kohli also posted pictured of their voter marked-fingers.
Shah Rukh Khan tweeted, “Most times I don’t even get to choose the channel I want to watch on tv. Today I have an opportunity to choose my country’s future. Awesome!”, while model Milind Soman posted a simple “Get out and vote :):)”
The missing onesSome like lyricist and Rajya Sabha MP Javed Akhtar, wife Shabana Azmi, and actors Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha and many others gave the elections a miss as they are away attending the IIFA in the U.S.
When asked, Prasoon Joshi, who is scheduled to attend the IIFA after casting his vote said, “It is their individual decision. I am sure they have their own solid reason to do what they are doing”. That many actors chose IIFA over the elections has drawn flak from many in the social media community.
(With PTI inputs)