Lok Sabha Elections: Akshay casts first vote; Rajkummar, Janhvi join
What's the story
The fifth phase of voting of the Lok Sabha Elections began on Monday and witnessed a surge of early celebrity voters in Mumbai, including actor Akshay Kumar, actor-director Farhan Akhtar, The Archies director Zoya Akhtar, and industrialist Anil Ambani.
Polling for all six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai is currently underway.
Post-voting, the celebrities urged young voters to actively participate in the democratic process.
Sanya Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor also cast their votes.
Civic duty
Kumar and Akhtar's views after casting votes
Kumar, after casting his first vote as an Indian citizen (he previously had Canadian citizenship) expressed his desire for a growing country.
To recall, he got Indian citizenship in August 2023.
He said, "I [hope] my country remains strong and keeps growing and I have voted keeping it in mind. And more people should come to cast their vote to whoever they deem suitable."
Akhtar also shared similar sentiments, stating his vote is for good governance.
National icon
Actor Rajkummar Rao promoted voting awareness
Rajkummar Rao, who is set to star in the upcoming film Mr & Mrs Mahi, was among the early voters.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has chosen him as a national icon to promote voting awareness.
He said, "It is a big responsibility towards our country, we should vote. Through us, if people can get influenced then of course that's the biggest thing that we can do to make people aware of the importance of voting."
Election Day
Voting details and key candidates in Lok Sabha Election
Voting began at 7:00am and will continue till 6:00pm, with a total of 2,46,69,544 individuals eligible to vote.
This reportedly includes 1,31,38,526 men, 1,15,28,278 women and 2,740 from the third gender.
Key candidates running for office include Union minister Piyush Goyal and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad among others.
The verdict will be declared on June 4.