First-time voters and senior citizens in Tiruchi vote

A group of senior citizens from a home turned up enthusiastically to vote at Little Flower High Secondary School, Crawford in Tiruchi on Friday. | Photo Credit: M. MOORTHY

Many first-time voters and senior citizens turned up to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections in Tiruchi on Friday.

While a few first-time voters went by the suggestions of elders in the family to choose the candidate, many made their own decisions after listening to the speeches of political leaders and gathering information about the candidates.

Social media played a pivotal role for many in choosing their candidates. V. Kokilavani, 19, studying thid year B. Com., in Tiruchi, was happy after voting for the first time at Government Adi Dravidar Girls Higher Secondary School, Kattur. She said she was well aware of the candidates in the fray in the Tiruchi constituency.

“I voted for my favourite party. I decided whom to vote for based on their election manifesto. I thought about what policies would be better for the youth before finalising my candidate,” she said.

Ms. Kokilavani said her vote was for development, especially in the farm sector. She did not ask her parents for any suggestions, she said.

Similarly, R. Jasmine Rose, 20, a college student in Tiruchi, voted for the first time here and said: “Keeping in mind the high inflation and skyrocketing prices of commodities in the country, I voted for the candidate of my choice.”

P. Mohan Kumar, 19, who voted along with his parents, said that he simply went by his father’s choice in voting. “Since I’m not interested in politics, I decided to go by my father’s choice. Initially, I wanted to cast my vote for NOTA, but my dad dissuaded me,” he said.

An elderly couple, K. Thiyagarajan, 70, and T. Selvam, 68, walked in together to cast their votes at a polling station in Kattur, hoping to get better infrastructure in their locality. “The roads in our area are in a dilapidated condition, and the quality of drinking water supply is also poor. We hope the elected leader takes steps to improve our locality,” said Mr. Thiyagarajan.

Many senior citizens from St. Thomas Mercy Home and elderly nuns from Sisters of Charity of Nazareth came to the polling station at Little Flower Higher Secondary School in Crawford in the scorching weather.