The polling began at a brisk pace in Tamil Nadu’s 38 Lok Sabha constituencies besides Assembly bypolls in 18 Assembly segments. The cameramen and photographers were out early too in order to catch the celebrities voting, particularly in Chennai South and Central. Superstar Rajinikanth, Thala Ajith with wife Shalini and AR Rahman were early birds at their polling booths to exercise their democratic right.
Rajinikanth’s silence
Rajinikanth who was shooting for his movie Darbar took a break and flew down to Chennai to cast his vote. He reached his polling booth in Stella Maris College as early as 7 am accompanied by the thunderous reception from fans shouting ‘Thalaivaa’. When he entered the booth, most of the government servants who were on election duty stood up instantly. An embarrassed Rajini asked them to sit.
When he came out after casting his vote, the media ran behind him thinking that he would say something. One may recall Rajini’s indirect support to BJP and in his interactions with media even before leaving for Mumbai when he welcomed BJP’s election manifesto. But the actor swiftly moved to his car and uttered a single sentence in his inimitable style, ‘everybody should vote.’
Ajith mobbed
Ajith came to the poll booth at Thiruvanmayur School along with his wife Shalini at 7 am to cast his vote. He was mobbed by fans so much he had difficulty even in alighting from his car. The police personnel who were there could not control the crowd as they ran behind the star and in doing so tried to enter the polling booth too.
AR Rahman urged people to vote
AR Rahman who exercised his vote at a school in Samiyarmadam updated his twitter account urging people to vote. He posted his inked finger and wrote, “Done! Have you?”
Kamal has to wait
Makkal Neethi Maiam president Kamal Haasan, facing his first elections after becoming a politician, cast his vote at the Corporation School premises in Alwarpet. His was seen along with his daughter Shruti Haasan standing in the queue along with the public. There was said to be a technical problem in the EVM at the centre and Kamal had to wait patiently for a longer time than expected. The actor was seen chatting with the people standing alongside him.
Vijay handed over young fan to her parents
Thalapathy Vijay promptly appeared at a polling booth in Saligramam to cast his vote. With the sun scorching down as early as 7 am, the actor, sporting simple attire, was seen standing in the long queue profusely sweating. Vijay also obliged fans there posing for selfies and signing autographs for the kids. Meanwhile, a child who saw Vijay left her parents and came running to him to take a selfie. Though Vijay obliged the kid, he was more concerned to get her back to her parents with the help of the cops. He was constantly asking the child ‘where is your mom and dad?’ The video was going viral on social media. It reminded us of a scene from Vijay’s recent film Sarkarwhich was dragged in to controversy.
Suriya obliges fans
Sivakumar with his sons Suriya and Karthi and their wives Lakshmi,
Jyothika and Ranjini respectively and daughter Brindha were spotted standing in the long queue at the Hindi Prachara Sabha polling booth. Suriya was seen waving at the crowd and also obliged many of his fans who wanted to take selfies.
Sivakarthikeyan says ‘fight for your right’
It was reported early on that Sivakarthikeyan may not be able to cast his vote as his name was missing from the voter’s list at the Good Shepherd School polling booth located at Valasarawakkam. The problem was soon rectified and the Remo actor cast his vote. He took to his twitter handle and posted a fitting reply. “Voting is your right and fight for your right.”
Voting is a game changer, says Kushboo
The actress turned politician Kushboo who exercised her vote at a school in Foreshore Estate said, “Voting is your fundamental democratic right which decides the future of the country. If you don’t vote, you don’t have any right to point your finger and ask questions of politicians. Sharing on social media like twitter, FB and WhatsApp are all for fun only. The real ‘game changer’ is voting and choosing the right leader.
K’wood out in full strength
Celebrities who voted before noon included Prabhu, wife Punitha and son Vikram Prabhu, Vijayakanth and Premalatha, Dhanush, Trisha with mom Uma and grandma (in a wheel chair), Vijay Antony, Sathyaraj, Meena, Karthik with son Gautham Karthik, Vijay Sethupathi, Srikanth with wife Vandhana, Soundarya with mom Latha, AR Murugadoss, GV Prakash with wife Saindhavi, Vivekh, Devyani and husband Rajakumaran, Regina Cassandra, actor Rahman, Arun Vijay and wife Aarthi, Sai Dhanshika, Lawrence, Ananda Raj, Sneha and Prasanna, Chinmayi, Nasser, Bobby Simha, Bharath, RJ Balaji, Vairamuthu, Mohan Raja, Ameer, Aadhi, director Vijay and Sasikumar.
