Akshay Kumar dodges question about not voting

Akshay Kumar

Actor Akshay Kumar chose to evade a question about not voting in the Lok Sabha elections here, and walked away. Akshay, who recently grabbed headlines for his "non-political" interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been widely trolled for not casting his vote on Monday.

"Chaliye, chaliye (let's go, let's go)" is how Akshay responded when at a special screening of the film Blank on Tuesday, a mediaperson asked him about giving voting a miss. He then walked away.

The actor has established his image as Bollywood's poster-boy of patriotism with films like Kesari, Baby, Holiday - A Soldier Is Never Off Duty and Airlift. The fact that he missed voting gave trolls a field day with jokes and memes.

Akshay was one of the prominent Bollywood celebrities whom Modi had tagged in a tweet, asking him to encourage voting. And the actor had duly complied.

"The power of a vote is immense and we all need to improve awareness on its importance. Thoda Dum Lagaiye aur Voting ko Ek Superhit Katha banaiye," the PM had said. To which, Akshay had responded saying the "true hallmark of a democracy lies in peoples participation in the electoral process. Voting has to be a superhit prem katha between our nation and its voters."

On Monday, the actor came in for trolling. "Shahrukh Khan has to prove his patriotism though he can vote. Akshay Kumar is mascot of patriotism, though he can't vote," one tweet said. "Asking for a friend. Which polling booth can Akshay Kumar be spotted casting his vote?" asked journalist Rana Ayyub on Twitter.

Also Read: Elections 2019: Twinkle Khanna votes, but hubby Akshay conspicuous by absence

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