Lok Sabha election 2019: Naga Chaitanya, Samantha walking towards polling booth in Hyderabad.
Parts of India are voting today for the first phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019. Top stars from the Telugu film industry - Allu Arjun, Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan Tej, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr, famous as Junior NTR and film director SS Rajamouli came out to vote in Hyderabad today. They shared pictures of their inked fingers on social media and encouraged their fans to perform their national duty and participate in the "festival of democracy".
Allu Arjun was seen queuing up at the BSNL office in Jubilee Hills to vote in the morning.
On Instagram, he shared a picture of his inked finger and captioned it, "Today is that 1 day which will decide how the next 1825 days should be. Pls cast your vote."
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, accompanied by his actor son Ram Charan Tej, also voted.
Telugu superstar Junior NTR was also spotted in the queue, accompanied by his wife Pranathi.
The popular actor also took to his Instagram account and shared a photo of his and his wife's inked fingers. He captioned the image, "We got inked! Did you? #GoandVote."
"Baahubali" director SS Rajamouli also took to the photo-sharing application and shared a picture of his inked finger after voting.
Appealing his fans to vote, he wrote, "Half of my unit members left to their towns and villages to exercise their vote... Good...Do Vote... If you think no party/candidate makes a difference, make use of nota.. #VoteForIndia."
With celebrities making a beeline at the polling centres, officials hoped that this would help improve the poll percentage in Hyderabad. In 2014, the city had registered 53 per cent turnout.
Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place for the Lok Sabha elections and tight vigil is being maintained at interstate borders to carry out smooth voting.
Voting for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases: April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. Counting will be done on May 23.