Akanksha Khushi
Jamshedpur, May 13: The steel city went to LS polls for the Jamshedpur seat on May 12. Leaving all their work aside, the people of Jamshedpur left for their polling booths to cast their votes. The awareness campaigns were successful as they instilled enthusiasm among the youth and first time voters. The experience of voting for the first time was something to be remembered for the person�s whole life. Titbits of wisdom from elders like reaching early at the booth to avoid long queues came in handy. Parents constantly reminded first timers not to forget necessary documents like voter�s ID card. Some of these voters shared their experience with The Avenue Mail.
Abhishek Singh, 18, a student of BHU said, �I woke up early despite it being a Sunday and left for my booth. I had thought that being the earliest, I might be the only one to reach the booth. But, to my amazement, there was a huge crowd queued up in front of the booth waiting to cast votes.�
Sneha Mishra, 20, noticed the diversity of the crowd. She said, �There were people from all backgrounds lined up outside the booths. I found my driver and my milkman, and even my school principal standing in a queue awaiting their turns to cast their votes.�
�What struck me as most appealing was that senior citizens aged around 80 years were present along with physically challenged and differently abled people,� said Tanmay Srivastava, 18, a student of Christ University, Bengaluru who had come down to his hometown to exercise his franchise for the first time.
Muskan Sinha observed that how minor disagreements and confusion could lead to chaos in polling booths. She narrated an incident of how confusion about separate queues for senior citizens created a mild chaos in her polling booth. She added, �The issue was soon resolved as the authorities and the police force informed the senior citizens where to line up.�
�Despite all the challenges, the joy of getting your finger inked is beyond expression,� noted Abhishek. The first time voters clicked selfies flaunting their inked fingers and posted them on social media. The frenzy among the first time voters of Jamshedpur was worth the talk. �The excitement among the youth tells that these young people will grow up to be well informed citizens of the country�, said a parent of a first time voter.
