Aged, disabled, newlyweds, first-timers, all queue up to cast vote in Ludhiana
Nitin Jain
Ludhiana, June 1
Among the oldest voters of the state’s biggest and largest district, centenarian Droupadi, born in 1924, despite poor health came forward to cast her vote at Gill Assembly segment in Ludhiana district on Saturday on a wheelchair with the support of Red Cross volunteers. “I have cast my vote in every election. It is our right and we should exercise it. It has a power,” she said in a dim voice.
The searing summer heat failed to dampen the spirit of those who walked all the way to the polling stations in the final phase of the world’s biggest election process.
Octogenarian Sadhu Ram along with his 79-year-old wife Bimla went to cast their votes with their son in Atam Nagar. Prem Sagar, 72, was also ferried by the Red Cross volunteers as he was unable to walk due to a fracture in his left leg.
Talking to The Tribune, the septuagenarian, in a stammering voice said, “Even one vote matters. I know the party that wins the majority forms the government, but I have the power to support the candidate whom I like. Being old, I cannot express my grievances to the government. However, I can show my grudge with one vote.”
Newly-weds Shilpa and Amit also came to vote in Dakha. “We are exercising our franchise for the first time and we are feeling happy about it,” they said.
Suffering fever for the past one week, Rajinder Kaur, a sexagenarian, came to exercise her right to vote in Jagraon. One of her relatives while holding her arm was supporting her. “I am not able to walk due to a problem in my knees, but I know I have to cast my vote for a change. So, I asked my relative to take me to the booth.”
Coming out of the polling booth, first-time voters Rashika (18), Swati (19) and Sudhir (18) said, “We are aware of the fact that to vote for a candidate that you like matters a lot. For this reason only we came to vote.” The district election officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney gave certificates of appreciation to the first-time voters.
A visit to different parts of this district, spread across 14 Assembly segments, revealed that from aged to youngsters, from women to the first-timers and newly-weds, people queued up outside polling centres to vote.
In Ludhiana East, Mahip cast her vote before solemnising her marriage. Some of the voters whose birthday and marriage anniversary fell on June 1 made their day memorable by clicking selfies after casting their vote.
Of the total 43 candidates in the poll fray, Ravneet Singh Bittu of the BJP is a sitting three-time MP and the BJP nominee, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and the AAP’s local sitting MLA Ashok Parashar Pappi are locked in a close triangular contest.
Interestingly, Ludhiana has the maximum count of aged, first-time and third gender voters, according to the final electoral rolls published by the EC. At 27 lakh the district has almost 35 per cent more electors than Amritsar, which stands second with 20 lakh voters.
According to the final voters’ lists, there are 22,003 voters aged 85 years and above, 58,801 first-timers (18-19 years) and 151 third gender electors in Ludhiana district, the highest in the state.
Meanwhile, the rural-urban divide also became evident in the polling as most of the rural constituencies witnessed brisk voter turnout while the urban city seats reported low voting.
“We have celebrated the festival of the world’s largest democracy. The EC has for the first time in the history of the parliamentary elections extended the vote-from-home facility for persons with disabilities and senior citizens aged 85 and above. We have pulled all stops to ensure maximum voter turnout from this category.” Sakshi Sawhney, DC-cum-DEO.
