Celebs cast their votes in GHMC polls

Hyderabad: Top Telugu Actors Balakrishna, Nagarjuna, junior NTR, Allu Arjun are among the celebrities who cast their vote in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) here on Tuesday.

All of them appealed to the electorate, especially youth, to exercise their franchise as a basic responsibility of a citizen. “Voters should vote, especially youth. Our country has substantial population of youth”, Nagarjuna Akkineni, who was accompanied by his actor-wife Amala, told reporters. Several youngsters thronged Nagarjuna at the polling station to take selfies with him.

Balakrishna, son of TDP founder N T Rama Rao and a TDP MLA in Andhra Pradesh, came to vote in his trademark white shirt and trousers. Balakrishna's nephew, junior N T Rama Rao (popularly known as junior NTR), was accompanied by family members when he came to exercise his franchise.

Senior actor and Movie Artist Association (MAA) president Rajendra Prasad was also among film personalities who cast their vote.

Meanwhile, Naidu's wife N Bhuvaneswari, son Lokesh, who is TDP General Secretary, and his wife Brahmani also exercised their franchised. Lokesh campaigned vigorously for the success of TDP-BJP combine in the GHMC election.

The polling started at 7 AM and would continue till 5 PM. Nearly 72 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in about 7,000 polling stations. There are 150 divisions (wards) in the GHMC limits, which covers 24 Assembly segments in Telangana. About 1,300 candidates are in the fray.

About 40,000 security personnel and others have been roped-in to see that no untoward incident takes place. Web casting of polling process is also being done. The counting of votes would be taken up on February 5.

PTI