Marriage parties head for polling booths first

AHMEDABAD: Loudspeakers outside the polling station at Saurabh High School in Sabarmati constituency blared out popular Bollywood numbers on Thursday morning. Sanjay Chauhan, accompanied by all band-baaja and baraatis, was on the way to his wedding.
"Don''t think I have forgotten to vote. By 1 pm and we all plan to come to the school and cast our votes," Sanjay told TNN, when asked if he had cast his vote.
The enthusiasm to exercise their franchise here was strong enough to match the wedding fever that gripped the state where not less that 20,000 weddings were solemnised.
In Ahmedabad, where an estimated 1,100 weddings were planned — 150 in Narendra Modi''s constituency Maninagar itself — citizens tried hard to ensure that they did not miss out exercising their democratic right. "I cast my vote before coming for the wedding. Pehla matdaan, pachhi jalpaan," said Paresh Patel, flashing the ink-dot on his index-finger.
In polling booths across the city, many people could be seen waiting in queues dressed in finery. "We have to go for a wedding in the afternoon. We thought we would first cast our votes," said Anandiben from Ellisbridge.
Jyoti Raval came to the polling booth at Shraddha School in Jodhpur Gam, dressed to the nines, but had to leave because of a long queue. "I will come back later. But I definitely intend to vote," she said.
In Maninagar, BJP activists worked overtime to ensure that people did not give the polling booths a miss. "Our workers personally persuaded a sizeable number of such families to first cast their votes," said BJP media manager Kamlesh Patel.