THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, April 27: A nonagenarian lady voter, a kid and a young IPS officer at the locale of a vulnerable polling booth Majhigaon under the Parwa police station limits in Palamu!
The 90-year-old lady is Enar Bibi, and the kid is just a kid. The young IPS officer is Reeshma Ramesan, Palamu SP, who is out to interact with the voters of a vulnerable booth at Majhigaon as part of the CBM, which is a confidence-building measure.
Reeshma Ramesan asked the senior voter what month it was and when she was to vote; the lady just looked blank.
Voting is on May 13, reminds SP
The SP reminded her that on May 13, she is to vote, and her booth is just close to the side where she is sitting.
The lady voter promises to vote. She is 90. She or her daughter-in-law does not ask for any assistance or facility for her to cast her vote at home. The SP, who sat on her knees, conducted a real ground campaign.
The two ladies used body language to convey more than words. Hands and eyes convey impressions and expressions faster than words here, between the two women, an aged rustic voter and an educated IPS officer.
Hope of Indian democracy
Between these two ladies, one 90 years old and the other in khakee, donning an IPS badge, a kid, the hope of Indian democracy stood in wonder.
The kid won the love of all. He looked more like a picture of India’s new hope. There were too many cops around the SP, but this kid remained unmindful of their awful presence in boots and guns.
Reeshma Ramesan said the Majhigaon polling booth is vulnerable. It has some shady poll history. Here, she said, we met a man who lived in exile and away from home for 20 years, all for the dread of the Naxals. This man is back home.
Reeshma Ramesan said, “Here we met a law student. He was all concerned. He talked about the road that this vulnerable booth has.”
SP assures safety at vulnerable booths
When asked about the safety of this vulnerable booth, whether CAPF would be deployed or the state police, SP Reeshma Ramesan said very emphatically, “I can’t tell you about the fatigue of the force like CAPF or the state police, but I can give you my word that here at this vulnerable booth there will be more than adequate security cover, and voters here will have no problem casting their votes. They will vote here with heads high.”
Again, she asked if she had met booth-level officers here, to which the SP said, “I met. The two were in burqas but were doing BLO jobs quite smartly. I didn’t ask for their names, nor could I guess about their age. They looked very agile.”
She said, “We sat in the school where this vulnerable booth is. The atmosphere here is congenial.”
The SP visited two other vulnerable booths, accompanied by CRPF officials and her own battery of police officers, from SDPO Sadar Mani Bhushan Prasad to the officers in charge of the two police stations, Parwa and Paton.
The two other vulnerable booths were at Nawadeeh, within the Paton police station limits. Here, the wind is blowing slowly but firmly for voting on May 13.
Migration of voters to hit polling percentage
Reeshma Ramesan said, “We were told at Chilhi that around 86 voters here have moved to other states like Gujarat to eke out a living.”
The migration of voters and workers will affect the percentage of voting. There is an average of 30 to 40 voters migrating at each of the 1796 booths in Palamu, including the 213 booths located on the Garhwa soil.
There is a watertight division between a vulnerable booth and a critical booth. Vulnerability is eruptive in nature, while criticality is a feature. Both are being taken care of ahead of the Lok Sabha election in Palamu.
Following last year’s communal fracas in Panki, polling stations in and around the Panki police station limits are critical.
Reeshma Ramesan went on to add, “Gory events based on community, caste, religion, etc, immediately make a polling booth wear a tag other than a normal or ordinary booth. For polling booths in Panki, the word that goes is Critical.”
