Celeb-rating democracy

Usha Uthup,singer
“The heat makes voting quite an ordeal. But I still went ahead and voted from my Kolkata South constituency. This year,I voted for peace. Through my vote,I sought a government,a system which considers itself accountable,responsible for our security and well-being. I want people in power who can say sorry for their mistakes instead of indulging in insane mudslinging.”

Usha Ganguli,theatre personality
“I vote every year and this year I took my son along with me. I want the younger generation to understand the importance of voting. But after I had cast my vote and started following the election coverage on TV,I was disheartened by the fact that the media,politicians everybody is going on and on about the alliance and not a word is being spoken about the issues facing us today. People are hardly talking about issues like prices of basic commodities such as rice,oil and vegetables. But when I voted,I had such basic issues in mind.”

Harsh Neotia,industrialist
“When I voted today,I was praying for a stable government — a government that could hold office for the next five years. An unstable alliance is dangerous,considering the economic,security issues faced by the country right now. Firstly,if the government is distracted by political twists and turns,it will not be able to address the issues plaguing the country. Secondly,I hope the new government is able to address the local effects of global meltdown. It’s a challenge facing the whole world and the Indian government has to do its bit to pull up the economy.”

NO TO VOTE
Anjan Dutt,singer-composer-filmmaker
“I did want to vote but couldn’t due to prior commitments. I am in London for my concerts.”

Rudraprasad Sengupta,veteran theatre personality
“I didn’t vote this time because I suddenly discovered a couple of years back that my family,which includes me,my daughter and wife,was missing from the voters list. I never got any explanation as to how. And the process of procuring the ID etc or finding out how our names have gone missing is so tedious that it became difficult for me to follow it up. A few days ago,I re-applied but was informed that my name was still missing.”