Bollywood celebrities cast their votes

Actors Aamir Khan, Sabana Azmi, Farhan Akhtar, Kangana Ranaut, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and several other celebrities on Monday thronged polling stations in Mumbai to exercise their franchise in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Actor Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao cast their vote at St Anne's High School. Khan urged people to come out in big numbers and vote.

"Each day of the voting, in a different part of the country, is the day you are selected for the voting, is an important day. It is very important for each and every Indian to be a part of it. So, cast your vote. Both Kiran and I are here to do that today. We have just done that," he said while speaking to media here.

Khan also shared a joke while highlighting the importance of voting. He said: "Once American president went for a walk and met a man on the way. They started talking and the man asked what do you do? To which he replied that I am the President. Now the president asked the man what he does. The man replied I choose the president."

Flashing her ink-stained finger, Kangana Ranaut also urged people to make use of the day and cast their vote.

Taking a dig at the Congress party, Ranaut said: "The political leaders used to chill in London and the country used to suffer from an array of issues like poverty, pollution, rapes etc. The situation in our country was worst when Congress was in power. Now that our time has come, we should vote in large number."

Sabana Azmi and husband Javed Akhtar also exercised their franchise. Azmi said: "I was in Begusarai. From Begusarai I went to Los Angeles. I was in Los Angeles for just 2 hours and now I am here, just to cast my vote because it is necessary. I want to urge people to cast their votes because it is important."

While encouraging the voters, actor-singer Farhan Akhtar said: "It is a very important day and I just encourage people who are watching me via your TV channels to please go out and vote. This is the day when people get a chance to decide about the kind of government they want."

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar also exercised his right. He said, "I feel that everyone should vote. The day comes once in five years. People should come out and vote whosoever they want to. Voting is important for democracy and we should vote for the strong and good government."

"Voting is my right and we have got it after a lot of many struggles and I definitely want to use it," said actor Sonali Bendre.

In March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged several Bollywood celebrities to raise awareness among voters. He asked them to creatively inspire people to come out and vote during the elections.

Polling in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections is underway in 72 constituencies spread across nine states including five seats in Bihar, one in Jammu and Kashmir, three in Jharkhand, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, 13 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, eight in West Bengal and 17 in Maharashtra.

The seven-phase elections began on April 11. The first phase recorded a 69.45 per cent turnout while the second phase on April 18 logged 69.43 per cent voting. The third phase of the elections held on April 23 witnessed a turnout of 66 per cent. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.