Rajkot: A 22-year-old groom of Bhavnagar breached wedding protocols literally to exercise his franchise rights as a citizen. “Generally, as per tradition, grooms aren’t allowed to go outside a day before marriage. But this was a voting day and when Kamlesh expressed his desire to vote, we all accompanied him and performed our duty as a citizen,” said Jay, a cousin of groom Kamlesh Parmar (22) who kept his pre-wedding rituals in abeyance on Sunday.
Kamlesh, dressed up in wedding finery reached the Bol Talav polling booth of ward number nine along with other baraatis and didn’t let wedding or guests disrupt his date with the poll. Till date, Kamlesh claims he has never missed voting in any election.
In Jamnagar, a bride and a groom went to cast their votes as a newly wedded couple soon after completing their marriage rituals on Sunday. The couple cast their votes in ward number 14 in the election of Jamnagar municipal corporation.
Aashish and Meeta Joshi told TOI: “Today when people are electing their representatives, we have selected our life partners. We are making our memorable moments even stronger by casting our votes in our wedding attire.”
Though it was one of the most important days of her life, Nidhi Gelani reached the polling booth decked in wedding attire in Puna area of Surat before going to the marriage venue. "I think voting is equally important for every citizen, so I did not want to miss the chance of exercising my franchise," she said.
Vadodara’s Shaunak Rana was to get married on Sunday in Ahmedabad. But the 30-year-old ensured that he cast his ballot first in ward number 7 in old city. "Marriage is an important occasion in life but voting too has its own significance. We vote for a better future and a developed city. So i decided to exercise my voting rights before my marriage," said Rana who works as a marketing head in a private firm in Vadodara.