BENGALURU: “I came all the way from Tirupur to Bengaluru only to vote on Saturday, because we must do it without fail to build a good nation,” said Deepika Das, a voter who created an FB page ‘Women of Wisdom’ (WoW), a women empowerment group, along with Deepthi Chetan, a homemaker, who could be seen sensitising its hundreds of members to vote compulsorily.
Posting selfies showing fingers with ink marks on the WoW FB page, Das said, “I did my part, did you??? Post your selfies lovelies.” Deepika Das, a native of Haryana, settled in Banashankari third stage in the city since over two decades, has a B.Sc degree, and is an entrepreneur now, running a skin care brand ‘Sutra Essentials’.
Before boarding Namma Metro at JP Nagar Station on her way to work after voting, Deepika told TNIE, “I am here for 25 years and have seen the city’s growth. The city has grown like anything and a lot of climatic change has happened over time. I am more a Bengalurean and don’t call myself an outsider. My husband is in marketing with an IT firm. He had come to Bengaluru from West Bengal a decade ago for education but he has not gone back,” she said on her return from Tirupur.
On issues of Bengaluru, Deepika said the biggest challenge is traffic. “There is Metro which still has to improve a lot. Lots of people are using it, but still many are using their private vehicles. The Metro construction work should be speeded up,” she said, adding that it is the solution to traffic problem in the city. Deepthi Chetan, who is co-admin of WoW, is a homemaker, owner of Handmade by Mystic Green and mother of two kids. “Yes, I cast my vote... but it’s just not a vote, it’s my responsibility to choose,” she said.
SUGGESTIONS TO YOUNG VOTERS
Deepika Das asked youths to do a bit of research about their candidates to find out if they are good for the nation. “They should think independently and not carry somebody’s views because it is their vote. I say we should not even discuss who we are voting for with our families, because it could influence them to vote that way.”