Watchman’s wife elected sarpanch of Rewari village

Tribune News Service

Rewari, January 18

Rekha (26), wife of a watchman, has been elected as the sarpanch of Rudh village in a one-sided contest held here yesterday.

She got 60 per cent votes and defeated her nearest rival candidate with a margin of 302 votes. The seat was reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC).

Rekha was also declared as the winner on Sunday after the counting of merely 18 votes polled by the villagers. Thereafter, the villagers boycotted the elections following an accident in which a train mowed down a voter Amar Singh (46), when he was crossing the railway track to go to the polling booth for casting his vote.

The polling booths were setup on the other side of the railway lines, which divides the village into two parts. The villagers had reportedly raised the issue before the district authorities, but nothing was done. After the declaration of the result on the basis of 18 votes, the villagers demanded the authorities to conduct a re-poll in the village so that each voter could exercise his/her franchise to elect the village sarpanch.

Later, the SEC ordered re-poll in the village, following the recommendation of authorities in this regard. This time, polling booths were set up in the village. “Shifting of government primary school in the village will be our priority, so that children don’t have to cross the railway track every day,” said Anil Kumar, Rekha’s husband.