Celebrities and famous people exercise franchises

As states went to the polls on Friday, many celebrities, including actors, athletes, classical singers and dancers, exercised their right to vote and drove home the message of the importance of voting.

The city witnessed a large number of celebrities heading to polling stations to cast their votes on Friday. Actor Rajinikanth was all smiles as he stepped into the polling booth at Stella Maris University and posed with his indelibly inked finger after exercising his franchise rights. He urged voters to participate in the electoral process, saying, “There is dignity and respect in saying we have voted. It is the duty and right of the people.”

Actor Kartik and his son Gautam Kartik also voted at the same polling station in the city. Including actors Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Suriya, Karthi, Shivakumar, Prabhu, Trisha, Khushbu Sundar, Sundar C, Arvind Swami, Vikram, Sivakarthikeyan, Vijay Sethupathi, Ashok Selvan, Sneha, Prasanna Other film industry luminaries also showed their talent. He campaigned in different parts of the city and posed for selfies with other voters.

Many of them later showed off their inked fingers on social media, urging other citizens to exercise their right to vote. Some of them, such as actor Sivakarthikeyan, called on first-time voters to make independent decisions.

For music composer James Vasanthan, who voted for Pallavakam, it was a rather simple and hassle-free experience. “After several posts were shared on social media, this time I consciously stood near the electronic voting machine to confirm my vote,” he said.

Classical artists, athletes, and educators were also eager to register to vote. While table tennis player Sharath Kamal cast his vote in Nungambakkam and also posed for a selfie with his daughter, Apollo Hospitals Group executive vice-chairman Preeta Reddy and her husband Vijaykumar Reddy did not. He voted at Good Shepherd School in Nungambakkam.

Urmila Satyanarayanan of Bharatanatyam Danse registered her vote and took the customary photo outside the polling station in Kilpauk.

81-year-old percussionist TH Vikku Vinayakram, accompanied by his grandson Swaminathan Selva Ganesh and mosing artist A. Ganesan, headed to the polling booth at the Hindu Higher Secondary School in Triplicane. Vinayakram, who continues to perform as a concert artist, considered voting an important responsibility. He did not forget to click his photo at the selfie point at the polling station.

Grammy winner and percussionist Selva Ganesh also voted at the same polling station.

Veteran Bharatanatyam dancers Vice President Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan decided to travel from Muthukadu to Damodarapuram in Adyar to vote.

Dhananjayan, who recently turned 85, said he is a die-hard nationalist who has never missed a vote. “I decided to go for an hour to get to the polling station. This time it was well organized and I was able to finish voting in a few minutes,” he added.