Author Sudha Murty, Infosys Founder Narayana Murthy Cast Their Vote In Bengaluru; Make Special Appeal

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty cast their votes for the Lok Sabha elections in the second phase of polling conducted in 14 constituencies in Karnataka on Friday. The couple arrived early at the polling booth in Bengaluru.

Sudha Murthy encouraged people to exercise their franchise. In a call to action, she said, "I want to tell everyone - don't sit at home, come out and vote, choose your leader. I always feel that urban people vote less as compared to those in rural areas. I request youngsters to come out and vote," ANI quoted the author as saying.

Echoing the same sentiment, Narayana Murthy also emphasised the duty of all citizens to engage in the democratic process. "Once in every five years, we get an opportunity to execute the right given by our Constitution, to choose whatever candidate from whichever party he/she is, to govern us. Today is a very happy day. Today is the day when we should all be enthusiastic to exercise our power," an HT report quoted him as saying.

Voting was underway on Friday in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in 14 constituencies in Karnataka. Polling began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm.

A total of 247 candidates -- 226 men and 21 women -- are in the fray for the first phase covering most of the southern and coastal districts, where more than 2.88 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 30,602 polling stations.

The Congress and BJP are locking horns on the electoral battleground again in less than a year.

This election is witnessing a straight fight between the ruling Congress and the BJP-JD(S) combine unlike the Assembly elections in May last year which witnessed a triangular contest among the three parties.

The state has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The second phase of polling in the remaining 14 seats is on May seven.

(With PTI inputs)