Aamir Khan Casts His Vote

Film stars arrived at polling booths in Mumbai to cast their votes in the ongoing Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. The elections are seen as crucial for major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

 

Aamir Khan praises BMC voting arrangements

Aamir Khan shows off his inked finger.

After casting his vote, he spoke about the importance of voting and praised the arrangements at the polling booth: "I would tell everyone to definitely cast their precious votes. BMC has made very good arrangements here."

Akshay Kumar shows up early at voting booth

Akshay Kumar was among the first celebrities to reach a polling booth to cast his vote. He arrived early at the Gandhi Shikshan Bhavan polling station in Juhu, northwest Mumbai.

After casting his vote, the actor spoke to the media outside the polling station and said, 'Today is the BMC election... I would urge everyone to definitely vote so that we can choose the right person through voting.'

 

Twinkle Khanna casts vote, says 'out of habit and hope'

Akshay was accompanied by his wife, Twinkle Khanna.

She interacted with reporters and explained why participating in elections matters, saying, "I think it gives us a sense of control, a little bit of power over the narrative, and I am voting both out of habit and hope."

 

Nana Patekar travels 3 hours to vote

Nana Patekar arrived early morning to vote, sharing that he travelled 'three hours' from Pune just to exercise his right.

While speaking to media persons outside the polling station, Patekar expressed his belief in the power of voting and urged others to follow suit. He said that despite the long journey, which required him to travel nearly three to four hours from Pune to Mumbai, he was more than happy to do his part.

"I understand that the sign of my existence is to vote, and for this, I travelled three-four hours (from Pune), and am returning immediately. So please do vote," he said.

 

Avinash Gowariker claims 'no voting slips' are causing trouble for voters

Avinash Gowariker expressed his disappointment over the lack of 'voting slips'.

Speaking to ANI about the arrangements, Gowariker said that although the venue was 'comfortable', the absence of 'voting slips' caused delays and confusion at the polling stations.

"I voted today. Everything is good, the venue is comfortable, there's no problem with anything except the fact that there are no voting slips... I don't know why. Because of this, people are trying to find their voting numbers. So, each vote takes about five minutes..." he said.

"I'm feeling bad that so many people have come with so much enthusiasm but they are met with these queues, so they're going back. I don't know why the parties this year haven't managed to issue the election slips. So that's the only concern," he added.

 

Vishal Dadlani upset over low 'public presence' at booth, calls it 'shameful'

Singer-music composer Vishal Dadlani shared his disappointment over the low 'public presence' at the polling booths.

He said it was 'shameful' to see so little 'public presence' at the booth and also mentioned that because of this, he has now stopped 'asking people to vote'.

"I've stopped asking people to vote. What I'm seeing here is that there's hardly any public presence. There are more officials inside, it's so shameful. Every Indian should feel pain seeing this. 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 said.

Talking about the importance of elections and democracy, Dadlani added, "Hopefully, whoever wins will hold the elections on time. This is very important for the country, for democracy. But given the state of our city in the last few days, the hope is that things will improve."

 

'It is our right,' says Divya Dutta

Divya Dutta urged citizens to actively participate in the democratic process, calling it both a right and a responsibility.

"It is our right to vote, and we should come out of our houses and cast our votes," Dutta said.

Highlighting key civic concerns, she added, "I think we should think about issues like pollution, employment, and other important matters. The right leaders will listen to the right demands of Mumbaikars."

 

'Your vote is to nurture those roots'

Gulzar arrived at a polling station, he said, "We are rooted in our homeland, and your vote is to nurture those roots and to nurture democracy. So be sure to fulfil this duty."

 

John Abraham casts his vote

John Abraham arrives at the polling station to cast his vote.

 

Suniel Shetty urges citizens to vote, calls BMC elections 'most important'

After casting his vote for the BMC election, Suniel Shetty says, "I think by far, this is one of the most important election so everyone should come out and cast their votes. We just keep complaining about the work of BMC. Today, we should do some work. We need to be with the BMC and help them make Mumbai better."

 

'Please come and vote'

Junaid Khan, his mum Reena Dutta and sister Ira Khan show off their inked fingers.

 

Renowned devotional singer Anup Jalota says, "Mumbai ko aur sundar banayenge, chamkayenge."

 

Director-producer Zoya Akhtar casts her vote.

 

Kiran Rao.

 

Isha Koppikar.

 

Punit Malhotra.

 

Bhagyashree with husband Himalaya and son Abhimanyu.

 

Paresh Rawal.

 

Sonali Bendre with husband Goldie Behl and son Ranveer Behl.

 

Hema Malini.

 

Rakesh Roshan.

 

Boney Kapoor.

Photographs curated by Anant Salvi and Satish Bodas/Rediff