Premium

This is an archive article published on December 2, 2003

First brush

Hesitantly, she takes her first steps towards the polling booth. Her face veiled in her ghunghat, 19-year-old Suman Devi Sharma moves nervou...

Hesitantly, she takes her first steps towards the polling booth. Her face veiled in her ghunghat, 19-year-old Suman Devi Sharma moves nervously towards the electronic voting machine at the government school in Bagru, Rajasthan. After a reassuring nod from the presiding officer, she peeks out of her ghunghat, takes a close look at the EVM and pushes the blue button — casting her first vote ever. ‘‘I was very nervous,’’ she says, trying to pacify her crying 10-month-old. ‘‘But I did okay.’’

But Suman Devi’s first exercise in democracy wasn’t a very well-informed choice. She went in confused and came out confused. ‘‘I wasn’t sure whom to vote for,’’ she admits. However, there was one issue that has always dominated the Std VI drop-out’s life — water. ‘‘There has always been a water problem and I would like someone to sort that out,’’ she says.

Twenty-year-old Babu Lal is also one of the over 37 lakh voters whose names figure on the electoral rolls in Rajasthan for the first time. And he knew exactly what he wants: ‘‘Employment.’’

Story continues below this ad

BHOPAL: In Madhya Pradesh, not all the first-timers focussed on the litany of roads and electricity but chose to look beyond. Mehreen Khan, a first-year BA student who voted in the Bhopal North constituency, was disappointed that all the campaigning was only aimed at scoring points. Manasi, an engineering student who voted for the first time in Bhopal South, said the power problem and the state of the roads showed the state administration in a poor light, but added that people should look beyond these problems to some of the good works done by the government. Ramdayal, 18, voted just because his name was on the voter list.

AARANG: They looked a disappointed lot in Chhattisgarh. Ask Dinesh Sahu, a second-year B.Com student, how he would rate the government’s performance in the last three years and pat comes the reply: ‘‘Disappointing.’’ And then he asks, ‘‘Why was Chhattisgarh even created? For gimmicks?’’ He said the objectives of creating a new state have not been fulfilled. The new state is all about corruption, unemployment and gimmicks like the distribution of schoolbags, which have overshadowed the priorities, he said. The government, he added, did nothing for youths, and many like him voted for change.

	POLLPOURRI

			CEC Lyngdoh fails to vote NEW DELHI: The man who exhorts every adult Indian to vote and is responsible for organising the entire electoral process did not himself exercise his franchise when an opportunity came on Monday. J.M. Lyngdoh, Chief Election Commissioner, whose name figured at serial number 725 of the voter list at polling station 79 in Gole Market, was conspicuous by his absence as Delhi went to polls. ‘Official’ rigging at Barmer BARMER: A poll official at a booth in Dhani Jain Mandir of the district was asking voters to press ‘‘button number one’’ of the EVM, which stood for the BJP candidate. The Congress poll agents reacted quickly, preventing the polling station to be ‘‘officially rigged’’. Voting by candle light BHOPAL: Polling officials had to light candles to begin the voting process, thanks to the absence of any lighting arrangement at Sheel Niketan School in Bhopal(South) constituency. Later, Ramesh Patel, who was on duty at Raisen dist’s Shikarpur centre, suffered a heart attack and was rushed back for treatment. Shekhawat misses vote first time JAIPUR: Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat did not cast his vote for the first time in the Rajasthan Assembly elections on Monday. The 79-year-old is a voter of the Bani Park constituency of Jaipur, from where his nephew Pratap Singh Khachriyawas contested as an Independent. The V-P’s press advisor K.L. Kochar said Shekhawat, who was in Delhi, did not vote through the proxy method or the postal ballot. Polling suspended after flash flood BIKANER: Voting was suspended at booth 133 of Gheghera village in Lunkaransar Assembly constituency due to flash floods, as the Indira Gandhi canal breached its dyke. The canal developed a 50-ft wide breach on Monday morning due to the alleged negligence of four Irrigation department employees. All four have been suspended. An old woman was swept away and divers were pressed into service to rescue her, District Collector Akhil Arora said. An IAF helicopter was used to airlift villagers to safety. (ENS & Agencies)

	ALL IN A DAY

			Curfew in Chhatripura INDORE: A clash broke out between members of two communities over election-related issues in Chhatripura area here, prompting authorities to impose curfew. Rival groups threw stones at each other, Indore Collector Mohammad Suleiman said. Story continues below this ad Abduction rumour DANTEWARA: Police strongly denied reports of two polling staff being taken hostage by the People’s War at Bijapur constituency in Dantewara district of Chhattisgarh. Inspector-General (Bastar range) Sant Kumar Paswan said there were no reports about Naxalites abducting any poll staff from Charkandi and Reddy polling booths. 2 killed, 3 hurt in MP BHOPAL: Two people were killed and three injured, including a police officer, in poll-related violence in MP where security personnel fired in the air to scare away warring groups. A woman, Shashi, was killed at Bhind town after getting caught in a crossfire. A youth was also injured in the violence, SP (Bhind) G.S. Poras said. At village Chachad in the same district, a man was killed when unidentified persons hit him with lathis. In another incident, C.D. Raghuvanshi, in charge of Mihona police station, was attacked by about half-dozen unidentified assailants who took away his service revolver. At nearby Shivpuri district, CRPF jawans fired in the air to stop a clash between Congress and BJP workers at Pichhor from where Swami Lodhi, brother of Uma Bharati, is the BJP candidate. Some EVMs were also damaged at Hingotia Baldevpur, Bhauti and Kachhaua. Clash near Pushkar JAIPUR: Two groups of party supporters clashed at Gegal booth in the Pushkar Assembly constituency, a senior official said. The supporters first had an altercation with voters and then quarrelled among themselves, IG Kapil Garg said. BJP MLA Ramjan Khan has filed an FIR, alleging that Congress workers beat up his supporters, the IG said. Story continues below this ad Naxalites loot poll team AMBIKAPUR: MCC ultras assaulted poll staff, looted electronic voting machines after the close of polling and also set ablaze a tractor in a Chhattisgarh village on Monday. SP K. Baburao confirmed the incident and said a massive manhunt had been launched to track down the Naxalites. The poll party was returning from Ek Dwar polling booth in Pilkha Assembly segment when it was attacked. (ENS)

EXCLUSIVE: EC brings in feature to check misuse of identity to seek voter list deletions

Political Pulse44 min ago

The Election Commission has launched a new 'e-sign' feature on its portal and app to prevent fraud. This comes after allegations of misuse of online voter deletion forms in Karnataka. The feature requires voters to verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked phone numbers, reducing the possibility of fraud.

View all shorts

Live Blog

Photos

In pics: From concept supercars to electronic SUV's: Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 was all about innovation

In Pics: From Concept Supercars to Electric SUVs – Innovation at Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025