The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Film stars shine bright on polling day

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Friday, Apr 17, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Film stars shine bright on polling day

Special Correspondent

NTR Junior, Balayya, Allu Arjun, Chiru and family were the early birds to vote

NTR Junior came on a stretcher in an ambulance to cast vote
Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Naidu families exercise their right at Jubilee Hills

— PHOTOS: Satish H & MOHD. YOUSUF

EXERCISING RIGHT: Actor NTR Junior shows the indelible ink mark after casting vote at a booth in Hyderabad on Thursday. (Centre) A woman voter reprimands TRS Lok Sabha candidate Vijayashanti for jumping the queue when she came to cast vote at Banjara Hills. (Right) Actor Allu Arjun stands in a queue outside a polling station to cast vote.

HYDERABAD: The first few hours after polling booths opened to allow voters to exercise their franchise saw several VIPs casting their ballot.

Praja Rajyam president K. Chiranjeevi was an hour-and-a-half late and as he arrived at the booth in P. Obul Reddy Public School in Jubilee Hills, he was accompanied by wife Surekha, daughter Sushmita and son Ramcharan Tej.

As the media swarmed around him, he said, “This election is the first step to change.

I know people want change and wish everyone casts their vote,” he said, to a roar from fans and others who gathered around him, before dashing off to continue his ‘Praja Vijaya Bheri’ in Macherla, Vinukonda, Narsaraopeta and halting for the night in Guntur. Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu exercised his franchise around 11 a.m. Coming out, he said people needed to take the extra effort to make sure they voted today. “Only then can they pull up their representatives tomorrow,” he said, adding that the response from people was encouraging.

NTR Junior, the Telugu Desam Party’s star campaigner who has been out of action for the past few weeks, stole the thunder by coming to the polling booth at St. Ann’s College, Mehdipatnam in an ambulance. Over half-a-dozen people including party leader K. Ramamohan Rao carried him on a stretcher into the booth.

Minutes later, when he came out, he showed his index finger with the ‘indelible ink’ mark, to cheers.

The TDP’s other star campaigner Nandamuri Balakrishna too cast his vote at a booth in Jubilee Hills and flashed the victory sign.

At another booth, wearing a tee shirt that had the word ‘VOTE’ written in bold letters, film star Allu Arjun sought to drive the message that every vote counted and how this election had seen lots of motivated youth coming forward and making it a point to cast their franchise.

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