Bollywood stars on Monday participated in the festival of democracy and cast their votes for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Actors like Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Suniel Shetty, Farhan Akhtar, Akshay Kumar, etc flaunted their inked fingers after casting their votes. Papparazis were present in large numbers outside the polling booth to capture the celebrities casting their votes. However, when actress Gauahar Khan came out of the polling station in Mumbai, she seemed angry. When the paps asked her how was her experience, Gauahar Khan angrily slammed the booth authorities and stated, "It's very confusing and very very badly organised."
While at first, she did not reveal what happened inside the polling booth, Gauahar Khan then took to his Instagram handle and posted a series of videos in her story. In the video, Gauahar Khan said, "I really have an appeal. Why do we have Aadhar Card, if we are not considered as citizens enough to vote? Your Aadhar Card is your identity that you are an Indian citizen. You should be able to vote with that when you go to the voting counters. In your building, where booths are present, everyone is there. People who have left the building that are still on that list. I have seen it myself. But I, my husband and my family who are registered at the building, none of our names were there. So, how does one vote? We go with the Aadhar Card, Id proof, they said no you cannot vote. So, I am making a humble appeal, on the basis of your Aadhar card you must be allowed to vote as an Indian citizen. "
In another video, Gauahar Khan said, "Everywhere you go, whether you go to the bank, whether you go to the airport, whether you go to the hospital, ..anywhere, your Aadhar Card is asked to be presented right? You are always giving your Aadhar card. And now, there is no Aadhar Card being used for voting. I don't understand that. It makes no sense. If you are an Indian citizen, and you are presenting your Aadhar card for every important thing in your life....then why not at the voting counters? Why are we denied our right to vote just because your list of the surveys that you have done does not have your names? It has the names of the persons who are not even living in the building. They said it was this year's survey but it cannot be as they left three years back."
"So, I am making a humble appeal to the Election Commission of India or whichever body that makes the decision for the voting process in India, kindly allow us to vote by seeing our Aadhar Card or our passports, that makes so much simpler and easier," added
Is a Voter ID card necessary for voting?
The answer is no. According to a recent directive issued by the Election Commission of India, voters unable to produce their voter ID card can establish their identity using one of several alternative photo identity documents. These include Aadhaar cards, MNREGA job cards, bank or post office passbooks with photographs, health insurance smart cards issued by the Labour Ministry, driving licenses, PAN cards, smart cards issued by the Registrar General of India under the National Population Register (NPR), among others. However, reports suggest that you can vote only if your name appears in the Voter List (also known as Electoral Roll).