Which state voted most? its Sikkim

Do you know this?? (An excerept from Yesterdays Economic times)

Sikkim this time has registered heavy polling at 82.07%, outstripping many areas in the country. The increase is 3% more than the votes polled in both the segments last time in Parliament and Assembly in 2004. This is because of the fact that for the first time ever eight political parties, including four national parties namely Congress, BJP, CPIM and NCP, fielded their candidates in many constituencies, creating huge interest amongst the voters to participate in the election process.

The women of Sikkim played a significant role, thronging around the polling stations to exercise their franchise. Forty per cent votes were cast by the youth amongst whom a good many voted for the first time and many for the second time. In four constituencies, women voters dominated in numbers, while in six other constituencies, the difference in ratio between men and women was very marginal.

In the last general elections, only 3 women candidates were in the fray, whereas this time that number increased to 15. It is assumed that elections this time in Sikkim saw cross-voting which was never seen earlier. It is observed that choice of the candidate by the voters led them to vote according to their preference, where the party was not of utmost importance. In many constituencies, people preferred one candidate for the Assembly and the other for the Lok Sabha. For the first time, the incumbency factor has emerged here.

According to joint chief electoral officer C.P. Dhakal, the vote tally of four districts reached late because of additional time given for polling which continued till 9 pm in certain booths, causing a 16-hour delay in getting the final tally. The CEO’s office at Gangtok received the complete tally report of four districts only on Friday afternoon. The poll was completed on April 30 and all the EVMs reached the strongroom heavily guarded.

The final tally of polling is estimated at 82.07% which is 3% more than 2004 election (79.08%). The remotest as well as high altitude areas in North district polled 85.14%, West 82.74%, South 83.27% and East 79.87%.

Only one voter!

Excerpts from Friday's edition of The Hindu...

Election Commission on Thursday created history by deploying its men and machinery just to collect one vote, that too in the polling station set up in the Gir forest of Gujarat, sanctuary for the Asiatic lion.

The lone voter — Guru Bharatdasji Darshandasji Maharaj (58) — a priest in the local Shiva temple and resident of Banej within the forest, where the polling station was set up, cast his vote at 10.30 a.m. after duly showing his Elector Photo Identity Card. Interestingly, the polling personnel were moved to the place on Wednesday evening itself and after he exercised his franchise, they could not wind up.

As per the election rules, they had to wait till 5 p.m., the closing time, to see whether there was any “challenge vote.” Banej comes under the Una Assembly segment of the Junagadh Lok Sabha constituency.

Shoewalas - get ready for a sale

Its happening in India, first it was @ PC by a journalist from Punjab, then an angry BJP worker on Advani, now college student on our prime minister. It is moment of shame when voters had opportunity to cast their vote and make the right choice for their constituencies... few went to voting booths in karnataka.

To show you the stats on what i am talking about, here is the voting percentages of all the 17 constituencies of karnataka...

Bangalore South which houses many educated bangaloreans witnessed one of the low turn around. Again, rural bangalore votes more % than the so called urban bangalore.

Guess what, jaago re and many other initiatives in print and visual media, motivational talk by NGO and govt representatives did not make them vote,

What punishment should be given to these non voters?
Lets ask shoewalas for a sale and hurl one piece at a time on these non voters. what u say, huh?

Voting Experiences

Its been three times I cast my vote in an Indian election. Each time I had new experiences with the voting process.

Attempt 1:-

At the age of 19, I voted first. It was for the assembly elections for Lalgudi constituency. On the way to polling booth in thalakudi, we were distributed coupon denoting our name and file number by the local party cadres. I think it was from party A. The voting process was simple after that..On the way back, we wanted to share our happiness and thank the person who distributed us coupon.

அண்ணா வோட் போட்டுடேன்
ஃப்ர்ஸ்ட் டைமா ?
ஆமாமணா
சரி எந்த தெரு தம்பி ?
ராயர்த்தோப்பு , கோவில் பக்கதுல
இன்னொரு தபா வோட் போடரியா ? இளங்கோ ஊர்ல இல்ல


Hmm! Me and badri blinked…

they may be Microsoft certified fake vote specialists. We voted for the first time. Also we were not sure if Elango was in town or not. We silently turned down the request and walked with head high again! We cast our first vote

Attempt 2:-

it was for the parliamentary constituency. Again the duo of myself and badri went to polling booth. As usual collected the coupon and made sure the same person is not distributing. We stood in the line. One of our neighborhood friend came and stood behind us in the line. He started talking to both of us on worldly things..

Did u watch yesterday’s match?

Yes,

Its very hot these days, isn’t it?

Yes..

..

..

..

(as we approached close to the entrance of the polling booth, he started campaigning…)

You are all young, you should use your vote for better cause, you know how we are suffering becz of selecting the party B, you should always vote for party A. if they come to power, it will be good for everyone in state, for our caste…

Hmm! I & Badri decided from the beginning to vote for the MLA who laid road in our area. It is time to payback and it was against the campaign of our neighborhood friend…

Attempt 3:-

This time, it was only10 mins affair in the polling booth. No major events. every one had voter id card, it was EVM, thanks to the karnataka election commission website, we knew our file number and part number..

Looking forward for next opportunity to vote.. how will that election be?

ஆபீஸ் மழை (office rain)

Its raining in bangalore for the past 2 days. big relief from the summer temperature. For years, i was wondering why it rains between 7-9 AM in the morning or 4-8 PM in the evening. It either forces you to stay back home or stay back in office :-)

Recently i coined this word ஆபீஸ் மழை (office rain) to call pattern of rain...

Jaago re #3 - The end

Finally last saturday i got my voter id done.. hurrraaayy!! Now i can vote for South Bangalore and contribute to my choice of leader for my area :-)

The End

ஆத்தா நான் பாஸ் ஆயிட்டேன்

ஆயிட்டேன்.... ஆயிட்டேன்... ஆயிட்டேன்

Finally i located my name in the voters list. i am one step away from owning new voter id card in Republic of India...