Mumbai, Jan 15 (PTI) Bollywood personalities Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Gulzar and Salim Khan cast their votes in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls on Thursday, and also urged Mumbaikars to be active participants in the electoral process.
Actor-politician Hema Malini, other actors, including John Abraham, Sonali Bendre, Isha Koppikar, Tamannaah Bhatia and Divya Dutta, and singer Kailash Kher also exercised their franchise.
Voting began at 7.30 am for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations in Maharashtra and will conclude at 5.30 pm.
Kumar, one of the first to arrive at the polling booth, emphasised the importance of voting for the right candidate instead of merely voicing grievances.
He said today is the day when Mumbaikars have the “remote control” (to elect public representatives) in their hands.
Therefore, people should come out and vote, rather than complaining later about issues related to electricity, water and road infrastructure, he added.
“So, now it’s our turn and we all should step out and vote to elect the right person. If you want to be the real hero of Mumbai, then instead of dialogues, you should come and vote,” Kumar told reporters after casting his vote.
His actor-author wife, Twinkle Khanna, also voted.
“It gives us a sense of control, a little bit of power over the narrative. I’m voting out of habit and hope,” she said.
Aamir Khan also cast his vote and appealed to all voters to exercise their franchise.
“The BMC has made good arrangements, so please come and vote,” he said.
Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan also exercised his franchise.
“I’ve cast my vote, you all also vote,” Khan (90) said.
His sentiments resonated with many other celebrities, including acclaimed lyricist-poet Gulzar, who underscored the importance of voting in a democratic society.
“We are rooted in our homeland, and your vote is to nurture those roots and democracy, hence we should fulfil this duty (of voting) towards our country. If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain,” Gulzar said.
Actor-politician Hema Malini, along with fellow actors Nana Patekar, Suniel Shetty and musician Vishal Dadlani, appealed to Mumbaikars to step out and cast their vote.
Patekar, who travelled for three hours from Pune to fulfil his civic responsibility, said, “I understand that the significance of my existence is to vote and for this I travelled (from Pune), and I’m returning immediately. Don’t stay at home, step out and please do vote.” Malini also said voting for the right candidates is essential to achieve a cleaner, safer and better Mumbai.
If people want security, progress, clean air, and pothole-free roads in Mumbai, then everyone has to take responsibility and vote, she said.
“Only by exercising your right to vote will you be able to make Mumbai,?? which I believe is the best city in the world, even better,” she added.
Shetty said BMC polls are the most important grassroots election and when the local area progresses, the country will automatically progress.
“We often blame the BMC that it doesn’t do this or that, but they work tirelessly even late at night. It is important that all the voters step out to vote,” he said.
Music composer Dadlani expressed angst for the low turnout at voting booths and called it “shameful”.
“It’s your country, your city, your responsibility and if you can take care of it, take care of it, but if not, sit at home and do whatever you are doing, because what I’m seeing here, there is no sign of the public. There are more officials inside and fewer citizens and it’s so shameful,” he said.
Every Indian should be pained seeing this, Dadlani said.
“If we don’t take care of our country, if we don’t take responsibility for it, then what’s happening will continue to happen,” he added.
Other prominent film personalities who cast their votes included Zoya Akhtar, Sanya Malhotra, Rakesh Roshan, Aamir Khan’s first wife Reena Dutta, and daughter Ira Khan.
In Mumbai, the electoral battle is between the BJP-led Mahayuti and the alliance of cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray for control of the cash-rich BMC, which has an annual budget of more than Rs 74,000 crore. PTI KKP GK
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