As it was the time of Bhopalites to choose their political representative for the 230-member State Assembly, enthusiasm among the first time voters was seen at polling booths on Friday. Many of them reached the polling booths one hour prior to the voting time just to be a first voter of the particular booth. Voting was conducted in a single phase to elect the 230-member Assembly with the help of 5.6 crores voters. A first time voter, Vanisha Sharma said, “This is my first vote so I want to keep memory this opportunity to choose my representative. I did not want to miss the chance so I reached at the polling booth at 6 am sharply.” She further praised the arrangements made by the Election Commission regarding selfie point at the polling booth. She was excited enough for her first vote. Riddhima Sharma, another first time voter, says, “I am excited to be part of change.

 

I was determined to be first voter among my friend and finally this has happened. I am so happy to be part of democratic process.” Another first time voter Vivaswan Balaji, who studies at NLIU in Nagpur, travelled so long to cast his vote in Bhopal. He said, “I travelled from Nagpur for the voting. I did not want to miss the chance of being part of changes in my home state. Though I am residing out of State but my parents are residing here and this is my native place. This is my duty to choose leader from our area.”

 

Besides, a 95-year-old Vidyavati Dubey reached polling booth along with her family members to cast her vote in the morning. She said, “This is my right to choose representative from my area. I am excited enough to vote early.” An 80-year-old couple Manjeet and Kamal Chawla were seen at Arera Colony pooling booth while casting their vote. They reached the booth sharp 7 am. They said, “It is better to vote in morning hours easily. After ten o clock, queue will be there and it cause inconvenience. We vote in our area every year as this is our duty.”