Ever since he became eligible to vote, Andheri resident Vinayak Kelkar never gave voting a miss. For him, saying no to voting is a crime. Thus, when ailments landed him up in an intensive care unit a few days before the election date, the 87-year-old Kelkar refused to skip voting. He asked his family to book an ambulance and take him to the poll booth.

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Kelkar, a retired rail employee, was admitted to Jeevan Vikas Kendra Hospital in Andheri on April 21. He was suffering from diabetic foot, blood pressure and hernia. He was shifted to the intensive care unit on April 23 for a few days. After his condition became stable, he was shifted to the general ward.

Adamant about not skipping vote, he asked his family to take permission from the hospital so that he can be transported to a polling station to cast his vote.

"The hospital gave us an hour's permission. We called arranged for an ambulance and took him to the poll booth that was around 10 minutes away from the hospital," said Manisha Kelkar, daughter-in-law of Vinayak Kelkar.

Speaking about her father-in-law's adamancy to vote, Manisha said, "Till date, he has never ever skipped voting. He wants to be a responsible citizen. When he worked with railways, he was appointed as an election officer, and had been on election duty several times."

"According to him, not voting is a crime. He has been on a wheelchair since last two years, still, he went to vote for BMC election," she added.