Noida, Feb 10 (PTI) Some delayed their ‘baraats’, some detoured after ‘bidaai’, while some came rushing to poll stations as brides-to-be, grooms-to-be and just-married couples displayed enthusiasm to vote on Thursday in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh polls.
As many as 58 assembly constituencies spanning 11 districts of western Uttar Pradesh went to vote after days of strenuous electioneering by political parties in the run up to the poll day.
While voters in the region reached polling stations discussing politics and all things serious, the arrival of grooms and brides, both before and after their wedding, did lighten up their moods momentarily.
In Muzaffarnagar, Ankur Balyan, wearing a blue suit and a pagdi, delayed his ‘baraat’ to Bijnor, where his would-be-wife awaited him, in order to cast his vote.
“Vote is first, then the bride and then any other work. This is also a responsibility. I talked to my fiancée in the morning, she asked when we would reach the wedding venue. I told her, I am going to vote and will leave for the venue only after that,” he said.
At another polling station in the district, Anuradha made all heads turn as she arrived to cast her vote in full bridal avatar.
“It’s my wedding today but it’s also the day for voting. I have come to vote before my ‘saat phere’,” the bride, clad in a red lehnga and sporting heavy jewellery, said.
In a surprise, the young man ran into Union minister and BJP leader Sanjeev Balyan outside the polling booth. The minister, who is a native of Muzaffarnagar and a local voter, also posed for shutterbugs with the groom.
Divyanshi and Aman, whose marriage was solemnised early Thursday morning, rushed straight to the polling station after the wedding to cast their vote.
Clad in a pink lehenga, the bride said when she got to know that the date of voting will clash with her wedding date, she decided that she would take some time out to vote at any cost.
“I feel proud that we took out time and came to vote. I have voted in previous elections also and believe every single vote matters. I think this effort by us would motivate others also,” Aman, wearing a sherwani, told reporters.
At a rather quaint polling booth in Mathura (Sadar), several voters stood in queue awaiting their turn to vote but all eyes invariably stopped at Ishan Pandey, a ‘dulha’.
From the wedding hall in the city, Pandey was supposed to go to home with the bride but instead, he insisted on going to the polling booth first. The event, of course, became talk of the town.
“It was my responsibility towards the nation which I have fulfilled. The responsibility for it lies more with the youth,” the groom, wearing a face mask, told reporters.
In Bulandshahr, for Balram, who was supposed to get married on Thursday, the election certainly brought a memory of a lifetime.
Enrolled in the Buladshahr (Sadar) assembly seat as a voter, he got on the horse as per rituals but made his way to the Char Khamba polling station, instead of the wedding venue in Ghaziabad.
Balram, who identified himself as a worker of a political party, said his wedding date was fixed two months ago.
“But I feel good to have voted first,” the groom, clad in a cream coloured suit, wearing a turban and a string of currency notes around his neck, said as he walked out of the poll station around 9.30 am.
Voting began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm in the 58 assembly seats across Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
At 5 pm, an average 57.79 per cent of the 2.28 crore votes were polled across all seats in the first phase of assembly polls, according to UP election officials. PTI KIS AAR AAR
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