Election Day
On the 13th we voted in Cha
ndigarh, Usually for me its just a two minute walk to the polling station. On the way I stopped to have a chat with the father of a friend who was sitting at a political party’s tent. Inside the polling station I was surprised to see a line of people waiting to cast their vote because usually its just a walk in and walk out affair. After a wait of around ten minutes I could show my identity and proceed to vote.
As I had expected the congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal won by quite a margin. This election was special in Chandigarh because of two reasons. The first we had major parties trying to win the seat for the first time, in the past it was only a competition between the Congress and the BJP. Second voters turned out in huge numbers, in some parts of the city voting reached 85%, over all the city vote percentage was around 65%. On a sadder note the brother of the BJP candidate died after election results were declared due to a heart attack. When you are the richest city in the country you don’t usually expect such percentages. The people this time were determined to come and show their resolve to vote. It was very nice to see many first time voters and young people. The atmosphere in the polling center was polite and respectful. The guy who marked my finger even called me “Sir”. Something that I don’t really expect from an Indian public servant.
I would encourage everyone to vote in the next elections whenever they get a chance. Not because your vote will or not make a difference but because you can vote. Although I am opposed to compulsory voting I think when people get the encouragement they will come out. As for the mark on my finger now I am curious how many months it will take to vanish, however the one good thing about this is that I can now be amazed at how fast finger nails grow.
