Hyderabad: Braving the odds, senior citizens, some in wheelchairs and a few others using walking sticks defied age and arrived at polling stations to cast their franchise for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Monday.
A senior citizen assisted by polling volunteers arrived in a wheelchair at a polling booth in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.
Another senior citizen was also assisted by polling volunteers to cast his vote at the polling booth in Jubilee Hills.
The elderly man showed the indelible ink mark on his index fingers after casting his vote here.
Meanwhile, Jaya, the daughter of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao also cast her vote at the Jubilee Hills polling booth and urged voters to cast their franchise.
“Please cast your vote. It is very precious. It’s your responsibility to select the candidate who is good and who can do a lot of things for the welfare of the people,” said Jaya.
She also showed her indelible ink mark on her finger after voting at a polling booth here in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.
In a pathbreaking initiative, the Election Commission of India (ECI), for the first time in a Lok Sabha Election, has provided the facility of home voting for the elderly and Persons with Disabilities in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Voters above 85 years of age and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) with 40 per cent benchmark disability can avail of the optional home voting facility.
Voters in this category have already begun casting their votes in the three phases of polling.
The initiative marks a significant stride towards ensuring inclusivity and accessibility of the electoral process and bolstering democratic participation.
This initiative underscores the ECI’s dedication to leveraging technology to enhance the electoral process.
The Lok Sabha elections in Telangana are witnessing a triangular contest among the ruling Congress, opposition BRS, and BJP, with a total of 525 candidates in the fray.
The constituencies in the fray are Adilabad, Peddapalle, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Bhongir, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam.
The most important electoral battles in Telangana include Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Karim Nagar, and Chevella.
Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 96 Parliamentary Constituencies across nine states and one Union Territory began on Monday at 7:00 am.
Of the 96 Lok Sabha seats, 25 are from Andhra Pradesh, 17 from Telangana, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, 11 from Maharashtra, eight each from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, five from Bihar, four each from Jharkhand and Odisha, and one from Jammu and Kashmir.
So far, till phase 3 of the Lok Sabha polls, polling has concluded smoothly and peacefully in 283 Lok Sabha seats.
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