Jaishankar, Gambhir, Atishi, Khattar among early voters; 'Make your vote count,' Modi tells people

As voting for the penultimate phase of Lok Sabha elections began on Saturday morning, several high-profile voters, including External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi minister and AAP leader Atishi, BJP leader Sambit Patra, former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP East Delhi MP and former India Cricketer Gautam Gambhir turned up at polling booths early in the morning to exercise their franchise.

"We have just cast our vote and I was the first male voter in this booth. We want people to come out and cast their votes as this is a decisive moment for the country," said Jaishankar after casting his vote.

Gambhir too made an appeal to people to come out in large numbers and vote. "This is our power, this is our democracy. The Govt has worked for development in the last 10 years," he said.

Union minister Puri urged people to shed their apathy and come out to vote. "The issues are very clear; they are about development. But the issues that the opposition is framing, they try to create a false narrative in the process they score self-goals. They have lost it. We will have a hattrick in Delhi,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X to request people to “make their vote count.”

"I urge all those who are voting in the 6th phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to vote in large numbers. Every vote counts, make yours count too! Democracy thrives when its people are engaged and active in the electoral process. I specially urge women voters and youth voters to vote in large numbers," the prime minister wrote.