'Don't Sit At Home, Come Out To Vote': Sudha Murty's Appeal To Citizens As LS Polling Underway In Karnataka

Nominated Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty cast her vote for the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka’s Bengaluru on Friday, urging citizens, especially youngsters to come out and vote.

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“If at this age I can come and vote at 7 am, I am sure youngsters have more energy. They are more smarter than me, I am sure they know how to elect,” the 73-year-old former Infosys chairperson said.

She urged everyone to come out for voting and said, “I want to tell everyone- don’t sit at home, come out and vote, choose your leader,” adding that “I always feel that urban people vote less as compared to those in rural areas. I request youngsters to come out and vote.”

The author and her husband — co-founder of Infosys — Narayan Murty, cast their votes at BES polling station in Bengaluru.

Karnataka Lok Sabha Election 2024

Of the 28 parliamentary seats in the state, 14 seats went to polls at 7 am on Friday. The southern state is witnessing a straight electoral battle between the Congress and the BJP-JD(S) alliance.

Udupi-Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Hassan, Mandya, Kolar and Chikkballapur are voting for the general elections today.

The key candidates in these constituencies include Tejasvi Surya, DK Suresh, Shobha Karandlaje, Sowmya Reddy, Shreyas Patel and Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.

LS Polls: 1.82 Crore First-Time Voters This Season

According to the Election Commission officials, there are at least 1.82 crore first-time voters are listed in the electoral rolls for this season of the Lok Sabha elections. And of these, over 85 lakh are first-time women voters.

There are 19.74 crore young voters in the age group of 20 to 29.

Who Is Sudha Murty?

Last month, President Droupadi Murmu nominated Sudha Murty to the Rajya Sabha. To this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi added, “Sudha Ji’s contributions to diverse fields including social work, philanthropy and education have been immense and inspiring.”

The author, philanthropist and former chairperson of the Infosys Foundation was described as a “powerful testament to Nari Shakti”.

Born in August 1950, in Karnataka’s Shiggaon, Sudha Murty began her career as a computer scientist and engineer, going on to become the first female engineer hired at Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (Telco).

She is also the chairperson of the Murty Trust and has authored several books. She also received the Padma Shri award in 2006 and the Padma Bhushan in 2023.

(With agency inputs)

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