Children avidly witness electoral process as grown-ups cast votes

New Delhi: Several children in the national capital had a brush with the electoral process as they excitedly accompanied their parents and other family members to the polling booths during the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections on Sunday.

Several polling booths had special arrangements for kids, including a creche facility, swings and decked-up selfies kiosks. Naman, a class 4 student, had accompanied his maternal grandfather to the polling booth at the Pusa Institute. "This is the school where I study as well. It is the first time I am coming to the booth and it is exciting. My school has been decked up beautifully."

His school was one of the 68 model booths for the polls. Usha Gupta (67), a resident of Lajpat Nagar also took her granddaughter to the polling booth. "My granddaughter keeps complaining about the bad roads, untideness and garbage that gets piled up in our locality. I keep telling her that it is the responsibility of civic agencies to clear address this issues. Today, I also explained her the importance of voting rights and how we can exercise our right and hope for a change," she said. Her granddaughter, Pragun Gupta said, she was excited to see how this voting process takes place.

"I had only heard about it but today I saw how my grandmother cast her vote. Now at least our roads will be proper and there would not be any garbage. I will also vote one day when I turn 18 but I still have many years left for that," she added. Harshit (38), who came along with his wife and five-year-old son to a polling booth in Malviya Nagar said, "My son does not understand what election and voting process exactly is, but since we have been having a lot of political discussions at home, he has become curious about the process. So we took him along to show what does a vote mean."

"Seeing our inked fingers, he too wanted the same, but he understood when we told him that only once he has become a big boy can he vote and get the blue mark too," he added. Ratan Lal, who works as a peon, was accompanied by his two children aged six and four. "We want that our area should be cleaned. We brought our kids along as no one was there at home to take care of them. Also, I want them to know that casting your vote is a duty," he said. Voting began for the high-stakes civic polls in Delhi at 8 am on Sunday, which is largely being seen as a three-way contest among the AAP, the BJP and the Congress. Over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the MCD, the results of which may have ramifications beyond the national capital. According to data shared by State Election Commission officials, the total number of voters in Delhi is 1,45,05,358 -- 78,93,418 males, 66,10,879 females and 1,061 transgender persons.