First-time voters make a beeline for poll booths

Several first-time voters, senior citizens, pregnant women and differently-abled persons made their way to the polling stations of Visakhapatnam North Assembly constituency to exercise their franchise here on Wednesday.

With excitement writ large on their faces, the first-time voters, most of them accompanied by their family, waited with bated breath to cast their votes. In most of the polling stations, the differently-abled persons and pregnant women did not have to wait in the queue for hours.

“It is the only day where we can contribute to positive change which will have an impact for the next five years. We need stable government which is more people centric,” Adi Lakshmi, pregnant woman, said.

Congress nominee for Anakapalle Lok Sabha constituency Thota Vijayalakshmi cast her vote along with her family members at the polling station in the office of the Superintending Engineer Public Health in Sitammadhara. “Our names are registered here and I have to rush to Anakapalle after voting,” she said.

Due to the technical snag, voting was delayed by an hour at polling booth 209, Varaha Giri Colony. Since majority of the voters were elderly people and slum dwellers, the presiding officer of the polling station Begum assisted the voters to exercise their franchise with ease.

Those, who thronged the polling stations at Narasimha Nagar and Akkayyapalem, exercised their right peacefully. While a large number of educated voters made a beeline for their turn at Vasantha Bala Vidyodaya High School that comprised polling booths 149 to 155, the strength was very nominal at polling station 142, B.V.K. College.