Haryana's eventful polling stations – leaders arrive in tractors and bicycles, voters do pushups and dance

• Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar took a train, auto and then rode a bicycle to reach the polling station.
• Dushyant Chautala, the leader of Jannayak Janata Party, arrived at his polling booth in Sirsa on a tractor.
• Voters too joined the excitement with dancing and push ups at the polling stations.

Mumbai might see the Bollywood fraternity heading to vote today, but it’s the state of Haryana that has all the drama.

From leaders arriving in tractors and bicycles to voters dancing at polling stations--the state has showcased many colourful events within five hours into voting.

The people of Haryana will vote for the Assembly elections on October 21, 2019 where 1169 candidates will fight out for 90 seats.

Leaders last push for publicity?

Dushyant Chautala, the leader of Jannayak Janata Party, arrived at his polling booth in Sirsa on a tractor. “People (in Haryana) are looking for a change and that is why we reached the polling booth with a mode of transportation that is our identity,” he told IANS.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar wasn’t one to hold back. Khattar took a train from Chandigarh to his polling city Karnal. And then, he took an auto rickshaw till his house and then rode a bicycle to the polling station. Asked about his choice of commute, Khattar told IANS, “I am a commoner and have come to vote as the common man.”

Voters celebrate polling day

If the leaders of the state were excited, the voters too were visibly so. Voters at Sanghi in Haryana, which is the seat of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, were dancing at the polling station as they waited for their leader.

Meanwhile, TV channels showed people doing push ups outside multiple polling stations in Haryana – as they warmed up for a heated polling day.

According to data from the Election Commission, there are over 1.83 crore voters in Haryana, of which 98.7 lakh are male, 85.1 lakh are female and 252 are transgenders.

From this, 40.67 lakh voters fall into the age group of 20-29, whereas 44.92 lakh fall in the 30-39 group. Social scientists say that nearly 22% voters in the 20-29 age group will play a major role in the Haryana Assembly polls on Monday, as per an IANS report.