Selfie craze drives GenY to polling booths

Though Thursday was declared a holiday on account of polls, Thane saw many youngsters get up early in the morning. The reason: They wanted to rush to cast their vote to be able to be the first ones to post selfies with the inked finger on social networking sites. Many of these were first-time voters.

Among these enthusiastic youngsters was brother-sister duo Shruthi and Shridhar Loknathan. "We had decided to go early and vote as this is our first time and we are proud to be able to play an important role in deciding our government. We kept a challenge amongst ourselves and decided to keep a check on which one of us posts the first inked-finger selfie. This made us rush to the polling centre early in the morning itself," said Shruthi.

Then there was Aditi Uchil, who was busy preparing for her final year exams but took out some time to post her inked-finger selfie. "I had to study for my exams, but I also did not want to be the last one to post my selfie. As I did not have enough time on hand, I decided to go early in the morning to vote and posted my selfie online," she said.

Twenty-one-year-old Mohit Aggarwal, who too was among the early morning voters, said, "I was very excited to vote for the first time and wanted to show everyone."

Parents of many said they are glad that even if it is for the sake of selfies, their children are at least exercising their right to vote. "Today's generation is not that involved or interested in politics. So, even if it is for the sake of a selfie, at least they are casting their vote. As they grow up, they will start doing it responsibly. This being our fundamental right, it is very important to exercise it," said Rajany Saraf, parent of a first-time voter.