For the first time in his life, Godman Satya Sai Baba walked in to a polling booth in his home town Puttaparthy in Anantapur district to cast his vote.
The godman, who has millions of followers and disciples in India and around the world who reverently call him "Bhagavan" cast his vote after Puttaparthy became an Assembly constituency following the delimitation process.
Many top politicians, cutting across parties, are among his devotees.
In 2004, he came under severe criticism for not casting vote, thereby sending a wrong message to his followers. Soon after exercising the franchise, Baba left for Kodaikkanal by a special aircraft.
Interestingly, all the important religious places in Andhra Pradesh became Assembly constituencies prior to the elections. While the temple town of Tirupati was an Assembly constituency earlier also, the new religious places to join the list include Srisailam, Puttaparthy and Tirumala.
India Votes 2009