Senior residents turned up in massive numbers at polling cubicles in Pune on Wednesday as they braved well being points and travelled lengthy distances to train their franchise through the Maharashtra Meeting elections.
Madhukar Yashwant Alavani, 86, stood first within the queue for voting at Vasundhara Vidyalaya in Rajendra Nagar, which falls underneath the Parvati constituency. “We voted for the free chai and cream roll,” he joked, referring to the initiative by the Grahak Panchayat, a client cooperative that gave away free cream rolls and tea for voters from early morning.
Nitin Narayan Keskar, 60, in the meantime, had no time for humour. “Voting is your responsibility. In case you don’t have the voting mark in your finger, you can not level the finger on the authorities for the following 5 years,” he stated.
Rama Vasudev Harapanhalli, 87, solid her vote on the MIT World Peace College campus within the Kothrud constituency, accompanied by her daughter Geeta. A devoted voter, Rama urged everybody to train their proper to vote for the betterment of society. She stated her key issues have been nationwide improvement and employment.
Sharad Vasudev Soman, 88, had an general “easy expertise” with the method and confronted no vital points. Nonetheless, one problem stood out—the shortage of handy parking. On account of this, he was compelled to stroll fairly a protracted distance, which, at his age, posed a major inconvenience.
Ibrahim Kasim Tamboli, 91, had a difficult voting expertise. He was initially assigned to vote at Babasaheb Ambedkar Faculty in Parvati, however his polling sales space was unexpectedly modified. To make issues worse, he and his aged spouse have been assigned to completely different polling cubicles. He stated the shortage of help from officers added to their misery, however a younger man stepped in to assist him full the method.
Hirabai Uttekar, 85, can’t stroll, however she expressed her dedication to vote as she stood outdoors a Pimple Gurav polling station, saying, “I’ve at all times voted, and I wish to vote immediately as nicely.” In the meantime, Jayvantabai Gawari, 80, forgot to carry her ID card, so her husband needed to trudge again to their residence in Gurav Pimple to retrieve it.
Zubaida Hussaina Dhinojwala, 70, from the Bhawani Peth space, stated she confronted some challenges. On account of her issue standing for lengthy durations, she struggled with the lengthy queue, particularly since no chairs have been offered. With the solar beating down, the state of affairs grew to become more and more uncomfortable, and it took her 40 minutes to solid her vote.
In the meantime, another voters have been glad with the initiatives taken by the officers to make the voting course of smoother for senior residents. Radhika Phule, 69, stated, “The officers are offering services for senior residents, they usually don’t make us wait for a very long time. They’re very cooperative, which we by no means observed earlier than.” Phule visited the Pune Prarthana Samaj in Budhwar Peth to solid her vote.
‘EVM finest solution to vote’
Shashikat Bokhil, 80, stated, “The Election Fee authorities are working very onerous, they usually have a high precedence to make sure easy voting for senior residents, as there are lots of senior residents who’re right here to vote. The EVM is one of the simplest ways to vote in comparison with paper or stamp due to its lengthy course of.”
Bokhil additionally voiced help for the ruling Mahayuti alliance, stating, “The Mahayuti is targeted on uniting everybody; their main goal on this election is to realize this. I totally help them and hope that Mahayuti shines on end result day. Given the uncertainty of the long run and the challenges we might face resulting from ongoing international conflicts and different points, I consider the central authorities is managing every part easily whereas the Opposition merely blames them. I hope to see the following authorities shaped by Mahayuti, bringing new schemes for senior residents.”
Sheela Tejwani, 85, who voted at Ethel Gordon academics’ coaching college, stated with a smile, “Why do I come? As a result of I would like folks’s lives to enhance.”
