New Delhi: Lok Sabha elections have been announced in the country and the Election Commission is busy in its preparations to complete the voting process. The Election Commission and the polling personnel really have to face a lot of difficulty in conducting voting in villages located between the Gir forests and the high mountains and forests. There is a polling station on the India-Bangladesh border which can be reached only after a boat ride for an hour. At the same time, the Election Commission team is working diligently to conduct the voting. The thinking behind this entire exercise of the Election Commission is that not even a single voter should be deprived of his franchise.
every voter can cast his vote
According to the country’s Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the polling team has to go through the most remote, difficult and inaccessible areas carrying EVMs. The purpose behind this is to ensure that no voter is left out. In the same month he announced the elections, he said “We will walk the extra mile so that voters do not have to walk as far. We will go to snowy mountains and forests. We will go on horses and helicopters and bridges and even ride on elephants and mules. This will be done to ensure that every voter can cast his/her vote.
94 special polling stations in Manipur
A total of 94 special polling stations will be set up to vote in relief camps for internally displaced people of Manipur in the Lok Sabha elections. More than 200 people have lost their lives in ethnic clashes between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities in Manipur since May last year. More than 50 thousand displaced people will be eligible to vote at these booths which will be set up in or near the relief camps.
Polling workers boarding helicopter to reach inaccessible places (file)
Highest polling station in Tashigang
According to Election Commission records, Tashigang in Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh has the highest polling station in the world. The height of this polling station is situated at an altitude of 15,256 feet above sea level. According to the Election Commission report, “All 52 voters of the village came to cast their vote on November 12, 2022 despite the severe cold. 65 polling stations in Himachal Pradesh The centers were at an altitude of 10,000 to 12,000 feet and 20 polling stations were at an altitude of 12,000 feet above sea level.
boat is the only means
Polling workers had to wear life jackets and be accompanied by divers at a polling booth located on the banks of the river in Kamsing village in Meghalaya’s West Jaintia Hills district. This village, which depends on betel nut farming and solar energy, has the most remote polling booth in Meghalaya which cannot be reached by motor vehicle. It is located 69 km away from the district headquarters at Jowai and 44 km away from the sub-district headquarters (Tehsildar’s office) Amlarem. According to the Election Commission, this village can be reached only by small country boats.
One has to travel a long distance of one hour to reach a village located on the India-Bangladesh border. A polling booth was set up in the village for 35 voters, 20 male and 15 female, from 23 families living in the village. The polling personnel had to wear life jackets and were accompanied by some divers.
Voting arrangements for one voter
According to “Leap of Faith”, a book on elections published by the Election Commission, since 2007 a special polling booth has been set up for just one voter, Mahant Haridasji Udasin, in Banage, located in the Gir forests. He is a priest in a Shiva temple located in the area. A booth has been set up in the forest office near the temple. A dedicated polling team is appointed to set up the booth and make necessary arrangements for the single voter to exercise his franchise.
Baneshwar Mahadev Temple is situated inside the Gir forest. The Gir Forest is the last surviving natural habitat of the Asiatic lions. Political parties do not campaign in this area due to fear of wild animals. The polling team consisting of 10 people traveled 25 kilometers to set up a booth for one voter. According to the Election Commission’s handbook, “Haridas is the successor to veteran Mahant Bharatdas Darshandas, who was the sole voter at the polling booth for nearly two decades before his demise in November, 2019.
300 miles journey in four days
In another village with a lone voter, Malogam in Arunachal Pradesh, election workers traveled 300 miles over four days through winding mountain roads and river valleys to cast a lone voter in 2019. Malogam is a remote village in the forested mountains in Arunachal Pradesh, close to the border with China. Similarly, polling stations have also been set up in Talala area of Gir Somnath district for Siddis, descendants of East Africans who came to India between the 14th and 17th centuries. According to official figures, there are more than 3,500 such voters in this area.
The Election Commission team on the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands off the country’s east coast faced crocodiles and swamps for nine voters in 2019. The Election Commission had decided to double in 2022 the honorarium of polling officials who have to leave for election duty three days in advance to reach polling stations located in remote and difficult areas.
Latest India News