The first phase of voting for the General Elections 2024 has begun today (Friday, April 19) and leading Tamil cinema stars have been seen arriving to cast their votes at polling booths across Chennai. 'Superstar' Rajinikanth cast his vote at the Poes Garden polling booth amidst heavy police bandobast and urged everyone to do the same as Tamil Nadu goes into the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Although Makkal Needhi Maiam president Kamal Haasan or 'Ulaganayagan' as he is fondly called by fans is not contesting the elections this year, he was seen showing his inked finger after he cast his vote at a polling station in Alwarpet.
According to reports, Ajith Kumar was one of the first in the Tamil film fraternity to exercise his duty in Chennai and had flaunted his inked finger to election officers, the press and the paparazzi before exiting the polling station. Likewise, Dhanush too cast his vote at the St Francis Xavier School, followed by Sivakarthikeyan at the Good Shepherd School, while Vijay Sethupathi was seen bonding with other voters at Kilpauk. Addressing media persons, Sivakarthikeyan stressed on the importance of voting and how it is every person's right, while extending his wishes to first-time voters. The actor also quoted Abraham Lincoln saying, "The ballot is stronger than the bullet."
The first phase of Lok Sabha elections is currently underway in 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories, and the counting of the votes will be held on June 4. The first phase polls is being held on all seats of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Lakshadweep (1), Madhya Pradesh (6), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Rajasthan (12), Sikkim (1), Tamil Nadu (39), Uttar Pradesh (8), and Uttarakhand (5). Furthermore, there will be five seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two in Manipur, and one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh.
