ELDERLY REACH BOOTHS EARLY, POLICE CHIEF AND DM FELICITATE SENIOR CITIZENS

Gautam Budh Nagar constituency saw many enthusiastic senior citizens turning up to vote on Friday and some of the specially abled and aged voters were felicitated by the district magistrate.

Elderly people dominated polling in the early hours of the day in Noida and Greater Noida.

During morning hours, queues were short at the polling booths of high-rises with mostly senior citizens showing up to exercise their franchise.

One such enthusiastic voter was 90-year-old Anguri Devi, who reached the polling booth in Dayanatpur, Jewar. Another one was a 76-year-old woman who arrived in an ambulance to cast her vote, post her recent recovery from an open-heart surgery.

Some of them shared their experiences with HT.

“The arrangements made by the administration at the polling booth here are up to the mark,” said Anil Bhutani, who is in his late 70s, and a resident of Mahagun Mywoods in Sector 16C, Greater Noida.

“Since it is for the first time that polling booths have come up within societies, voting was hassle free,” he added.

Till 10am, the residential society that comprises around 3,500 registered voters, saw around 70% voting. “It took hardly 5-10 minutes for me to vote,” said 72-year-old Vinod Kumar, a resident of Gaur City 2, who was among the early voters.

“I would have participated in the process even if the polling booth was not set up in my society. I always exercise my voting right,” said Amit Anand (65), of Amrapali Sapphire, in Noida.

The early voters also included one 86-year-old Sundara, who voted at the polling booth located at Bhaurav Devras Sraswati Vidya Mandir, Sector 12.

DM Verma and police commissioner Laxmi Singh later in the day, conducted joint inspections of polling booths.

During their visit, they felicitated senior citizens and specially abled voters with garlands for their participation in the democratic process.