Nineteen-year-old T.S. Akshaya, pursuing B. Tech in the Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology here, had a fall from her two-wheeler a day before elections and had her left hand broken. But that did not deter her from casting her vote on Saturday, first time in her life.
The immensely thrilled student said, “The pain was unbearable even after medication, but I did not want to miss out on my first election, and here I am with the assistance of my father Shankar,” said Ms. Akshaya, who displayed the mark of indelible ink on the index finger of her bandaged left hand .
Ill health and age-related debility did not stop Abi Beevi of Vallam from casting her vote at the St. Xavier Higher Secondary School nearby. Speaking from her wheelchair, Ms. Beevi, a former town panchayat ward member from the locality, claimed that she never missed an election in the past 50 years.
An engineering student M. Sindhuja (20) and business administration student G. Indumathi (19), returning from the St. Joseph’s Girls Higher Secondary School, Kallukulam, first time voters, said they were overwhelmed by the “sense of belonging as a citizen of this nation” after voting in the Assembly election.
