Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Lone Voter Casts Vote At Polling Booth Inside Gujarat's Gir Forest
The Election Commission of India has been going for years to ensure that every eligible voter can cast their vote. In the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections too, the ECI had set up a polling booth deep inside the Gir Forest in Gujarat.
Imagine setting up a polling booth for just one voter! That is the extent the Election Commission of India has been going for years to ensure that every eligible voter can cast their vote. In the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections too, the ECI had set up a polling booth deep inside the Gir Forest in Gujarat for one voter. On Tuesday, Mahant Haridas, a temple priest of Banej, located deep inside the Gir forest region in Gir Somnath district cast his vote in the Lok Sabha Elections.
AFP
Mahant Haridas, only voter of the booth
Also read: Gir Forest's Only Human Resident Comes Out To Vote
He is the only registered voter at the booth, which comes under the Junagadh Lok Sabha seat. The nearest human-populated area from Banej is several kilometers away.
AFP
Special booth for one voter since 2007
Since 2007, for every election in the state, a special polling booth has been set up for Mahant Haridas in the forest (department) office near the temple.
A dedicated polling team is also despatched to get the vote of the single voter there.
Officials have to travel a long and bumpy journey by bus on unpaved forest roads to ensure the priest can participate in the vote. They reach the Forest Office a day before voting and set up the polling booth for the lone voter.
AFP
The officials have to stay there throughout the election day even after Mahant Haridas has cast his vote and there are no other voters.
Also read: Maharashtra Man Takes A Langur To Polling Booth
One voter, 100 per cent vote
Booth presiding officer Sursinh Padhiyar said the EC had set up the booth for the lone voter registered here. "He came around 11 am to cast his vote. With it, we have registered 100 per cent voting at the booth," he said.
AFP
"Everybody should vote in a democracy," Haridas on Tuesday after casting his vote.
"The fact that a team of 10 people came here in the jungle for just one voter shows how important each vote is," he added.
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