Bollywood Goes To Vote, But Shabana Does The Impossible
While the credit for being the first Bollywoodian to reach the voting venue on Monday morning goes to Priyanka Chopra(who is in Mumbai to attend her brother’s wedding), the Bollywood Begum who gets the vote for being the most diligent voter, is Shabana Azmi.
On Friday Shabana had flown to Patna and onward by car to far-off Begusarai to support CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar. She was to fly back to Mumbai on Saturday but instead flew out from Delhi late Friday night to Los Angeles for an urgent meeting and had to return to Mumbai in time to vote in Mumbai on Tuesday morning.
“My body in such a state of shock that it’s forgotten to jetlag,” Shabana chuckled but added that not voting must not be an option for any Indian. “If you want the government of your choice you have to vote.You want change? Then make it happen.”
Asia’s Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar also urged all Indians to vote . “It is not just our democratic right but also an imperative. How can we complain about our Lok Sabha representatives if we don’t vote?”
Tiger Shroff who had a song (with Alia Bhatt) from Student Of The Year 2 to release on Tuesday made it a point to drop his vote. “I think as a responsible citizen voting should come before any other work on election day.I did what I had to.”
Rishi Kapoor who is recovering from a serious illness in New York wanted to know if there was any way he could vote in absentia.He was denied the right to vote from the US. He intends to campaign for onlike voting.