Thousands of people who had migrated from Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Parvatipuram districts have returned on Monday to exercise their franchise.
Many of them say that they were not persuaded by any political party to vote and have come voluntarily to take part in the festival of democracy.
Among such people are corporate law officer Landa Sai Sankar and his wife, Dr. Sravani, who came from Mumbai to cast their votes at Veduruvada in the Gajapathinagaram constituency of Vizianagaram. “As a law officer, I know the importance of vote in a democratic setup. That awareness made me come to my native place to vote. Voting today gave me a lot of happiness. Like many other countries, we also need to have above 90% polling. I am hopeful it would happen from the next elections,” he added.
M. Tulasidas of Pachipenta mandal, who is working in a pharmaceutical company in Hyderabad, came to his native place on Vizianagaram district to cast his vote. “Vote is a powerful weapon given to common people by the Indian Constitution. It helps us to elect right leaders,” he added.
Thousands of people of Vizianagaram, Parvatipuram and Srikakulam districts settled down in other States, but they prefer to have their Aadhar cards and voter IDs with local residential addresses.
Political analyst and assistant professor at Dr. BR Ambedkar University, Gunta Leela Varaprasad, said that the commitment shown by these returnees should be an eye-opener for others who did not vote due to silly reasons.