THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Apart from the Malayalis, many Gujaratis, Rajasthani and Kashmiris enthusiastically turned up at various polling booths across the city to exercise their vote at the assembly polls. Most of them have been living in the state for decades, and are glad to be a part of its administrative process. “I have been voting since I was eighteen,” says 28-year-old Khushi Patel, a Gujarati residing in the city. “I just hope that whoever does good work gets to lead and setting an example for people,” she says, adding that Covid-19 protocol was followed at the polling booths.
Nandalal D Patel, secretary of the Trivandrum Gujarati Samaj and a resident of Thiruvanathapuram for over a decade said that the city is home to around 20 Gujarati families. “We have been encouraging them to vote. All of them have voted for this election. It is important that people exercise their right to vote,” he says.
Kishore Rathi from Rajasthan says he never misses an election. “Many Rajasthanis have been involved in various kinds of business in the city. We need better infrastructure, and that should be the focus of the ruling government,” he says.
Syed Shabir Ahmad Qadri, a Kashmiri who runs a handicrafts shop in Kovalam commented that the state needs to make more efforts to help those who lost their business during the pandemic.