‘Every vote counts’: Polling officials set up booth for lone voter in Gir forest
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Polling officers in Gujarat had to take a two-day bus trip into the Gir forest, the last remaining natural habitat of the Asiatic lion, to set up a voting station in Banej on Tuesday to guarantee the lone voter, a priest, could vote.
Reiterating the resolution of ‘Every Vote Counts’, the Election Commission, set up a special polling booth for a lone voter in Banej, in the Gir forest on Tuesday (May 07).
Since 2007, Mahant Haridasji Udasin, the only registered voter in Banej, which comes under the Junagadh Lok Sabha seat, has had a special polling station for himself. He serves as a priest at a nearby Shiva temple. A booth has been put up in the forest office, near the temple. A polling team was assigned to set up the booth and make all required arrangements for Mahant Udasin to exercise his right to vote.
The ECI promises to reach every voter, wherever they may be, since India is undergoing the biggest democratic exercise with Lok Sabha elections. Electoral laws stipulate that each voter must be no more than 2 km (1.2 miles) away from a polling place, and about 969 million individuals are eligible to vote this year.
Polling officers in Gujarat had to take a two-day bus trip into the Gir forest, the last remaining natural habitat of the Asiatic lion, to put up a polling station in Banej on Tuesday to guarantee the priest could vote. Each polling place must have two police officers and at least six poll workers, according to the electoral law. The Election Commission of India shared a post-vote picture of Mahant Haridasji Udasin with an inked finger on X with the caption, "A lone voter casts his vote at the unique polling station set up in the Gir forest, Banej, #Gujarat."
Gujarat Lok Sabha elections 2024
Over 55% of voters turned out until 5 pm in Gujarat's 25 parliamentary seats for the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 7. There were 265 candidates, including a Minister of State named Devusinh Chauhan and three Cabinet Ministers: Amit Shah, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Parshottam Rupala. The elections were held in 25 of the State's 26 seats since the incumbent BJP won the Surat seat unchallenged after eight out of nine qualified contenders withdrew their papers.
(With inputs from agencies)