The elderly lead the way for Delhi

Senior citizens seemed to be among the most enthusiastic voters on Wednesday with many even on wheelchairs accompanying their family members.

Eighty-three-year-old Ishwar Parkash Gupta was the centre of attention at a polling both in Punjabi Bagh under Madipur constituency in west Delhi.

“My wheelchair bound father wanted to vote at any cost. He did so with all of us at 3 pm,” Gupta’s son Rakesh said. Gupta has never missed an opportunity to vote in the past 15 years despite being an asthma patient.

In east Delhi’s Trilokpuri, an elderly couple said they have been voting for 50 years.
“The election this time is very interesting due to involvement of three parties, that’s why more and more people are taking out time to vote today,” 79-year-old Shyam Lal told Deccan Herald.

Shyam’s wife said she was excited for the day and even made her daughter-in-law to get up early for voting.

“I woke Priyanka at 6 am and asked her to get ready and go to the polling station and vote before even making breakfast,” 72-year-old Rama Devi said.

In south Delhi’s Aya Nagar, 74-year-old Subhash Jain said he decided against wasting his vote and told his grandchildren to accompany him.

“We must ensure that a corruption-free government is elected for continuous development of the capital,” Jain added.

‘Different this time’

Jain said the capital has always seen a fight only between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.

“The rise of Aam Aadmi Party as a major party and ‘none of the above option’ is different from what a voter has seen over the years,” he said.

However, most of the senior citizens complained that not enough arrangements were made by the Election Commission to provide easy access to polling stations.

“We had to walk a long way from the main gate to the polling booth. Wheelchairs and adequate ramp for wheelchairs were also missing,” Shyam said.