Residents of Chirag Nagar in Ghatkopar West, who claimed they would boycott the civic election as they were allegedly being forced to vacate their homes by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), opted to exercise their franchise after all on Thursday.

Anil Sathe, grandson of the folk poet, writer, and social activist Anna Bhau Sathe, told mid-day, “We realised that voting is our constitutional right and duty. Saying that we would boycott the poll would be disrespectful towards the Constitution itself. Hence, we chose to participate in the festival of democracy.”