Differently abled beat the odds to cast their votes

Beating the odds, differently abled voters turned up at polling stations across the city on Sunday to cast their votes for the Lok Sabha election with a sense of duty towards the nation.

Twenty-three-year-old Shivank Shukla, who cast his vote at a polling station in Aurangzeb Lane in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency, said, "If I can go to a shopping mall on a wheelchair, I can come here too because it's very important."

Shukla, who met with an accident at the age of 17 making his lower limbs dysfunctional, happily posed for shutterbugs flashing his inked finger after casting his vote.

"I could not cast vote in 2014 despite being eligible for it, but this time I decided that I have to do it," he said.

Badri, 30, who has paralysis in his legs, was accompanied by a neighbour who offered him a ride on his motorcycle to a polling station in Laxmi Nagar of the East Delhi constituency.

He claimed that his pension from the municipal corporation was pending for more than one month and lashed out at political parties for being "insensitive" towards the needs of the differently abled people.

"Still I have come to vote because it's my duty and it is the only way you can make a change," Badri said.

Polling staff, police personnel and volunteers deployed at polling stations offered help to differently abled persons and ensured they cast their votes with least discomfort.

Three visually challenged youths - Kuldeep Singh, Adesh Kumar and Manoj Kumar Thakur - cast their votes at Kalkaji Extension polling station.

"It is our duty towards the society to participate in the government making process," Singh said.

"Physical disability cannot be a barrier in ones' duty towards the nation as each vote counts," he said.

The three friends, who study at a special school for visually challenged persons, appreciated the arrangements at the polling station and volunteers who helped them in casting their votes.