HAZARIBAG: A 105-year-old dying man’s wish to vote during the ongoing panchayat polls in Jharkhand was fulfilled after his two sons ferried the man to a voting centre, exactly half an hour before he passed away in bed.
A resident of Belahi village in Chouparan block of Hazaribag district, Varan Sahu, expressed his last desire to his family members on Saturday morning that he wants to exercise his franchise. Initially, his septuagenarian sons – Tarun and Karan – were reluctant due to his poor health. However, upon Varan’s repeated insistence, they hired an SUV to transport him to polling booth number 256 set up at the Utkramit Vidyalaya located 2 km away. The rural polls were held across 1,127 panchayats to elect 7,303 panchayat members, 1,117 mukhiyas, 1,256 panchayat committee members and 143 zilla parishad members. A total of 30,221 candidates are in the fray. Stumped polling officials carried the logistics to the vehicle after Tarun flashed his father’s voter identity card that said he was born on June 27, 1917.
Tarun later said his father returned home a happy man at 2.30 pm and breathed his last at 3 pm.
“He was an elated man after having cast his vote. He was telling us since Saturday morning that he doesn’t want to miss his vote as it might be his last. Though his departure has left a void, we are happy to have fulfilled his last wish,” remarked Tarun.
Younger brother Karan added: “He was often bed-ridden due to old-age ailments, but aware of the political scenario.”
He added, “However, this time, many have migrated to other places for jobs after the easing of markets after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The rural polls are being held across 1,127 panchayats to elect 7,303 panchayat members, 1,117 mukhiyas, 1,256 panchayat committee members and 143 zilla parishad members. A total of 30,221 candidates were in the fray. Of which 6,231 seats were decided uncontested in the first phase. There were as many as 52, 22, 815 voters. In terms of booths, as many as 14,079 polling booths were set up across 72 blocks in 21 districts for the first phase. Of them, 5,704 were declared sensitive, and 5,450 booths as hypersensitive.
Earlier in the day, chief minister Hemant Soren appealed to everyone to vote to elect their local village government. In a tweet, he said, “The first phase of polling has started today for the panchayat election in Jharkhand. Best wishes to all the candidates, voters and election workers on the occasion of this great festival of democracy.”
Meanwhile, opposition BJP in the afternoon knocked at the doors of the state election commission accusing violation of democratic rights of some candidates in Chatra district and sought action against deputy commissioner Anjali Yadav.
Saroj Singh, a part of the three-member BJP delegation, which submitted the memorandum, said, “In some polling booths at Seema panchayat, the Chatra DC forcefully evacuated polling agents of some select candidates. As per the norms, every candidate is entitled to have two polling agents at the booths for a proper vigil. The act of the DC has now raised questions in the particular region. We have demanded action against the DC,” he said.
A resident of Belahi village in Chouparan block of Hazaribag district, Varan Sahu, expressed his last desire to his family members on Saturday morning that he wants to exercise his franchise. Initially, his septuagenarian sons – Tarun and Karan – were reluctant due to his poor health. However, upon Varan’s repeated insistence, they hired an SUV to transport him to polling booth number 256 set up at the Utkramit Vidyalaya located 2 km away. The rural polls were held across 1,127 panchayats to elect 7,303 panchayat members, 1,117 mukhiyas, 1,256 panchayat committee members and 143 zilla parishad members. A total of 30,221 candidates are in the fray. Stumped polling officials carried the logistics to the vehicle after Tarun flashed his father’s voter identity card that said he was born on June 27, 1917.
Tarun later said his father returned home a happy man at 2.30 pm and breathed his last at 3 pm.
“He was an elated man after having cast his vote. He was telling us since Saturday morning that he doesn’t want to miss his vote as it might be his last. Though his departure has left a void, we are happy to have fulfilled his last wish,” remarked Tarun.
Younger brother Karan added: “He was often bed-ridden due to old-age ailments, but aware of the political scenario.”
He added, “However, this time, many have migrated to other places for jobs after the easing of markets after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The rural polls are being held across 1,127 panchayats to elect 7,303 panchayat members, 1,117 mukhiyas, 1,256 panchayat committee members and 143 zilla parishad members. A total of 30,221 candidates were in the fray. Of which 6,231 seats were decided uncontested in the first phase. There were as many as 52, 22, 815 voters. In terms of booths, as many as 14,079 polling booths were set up across 72 blocks in 21 districts for the first phase. Of them, 5,704 were declared sensitive, and 5,450 booths as hypersensitive.
Earlier in the day, chief minister Hemant Soren appealed to everyone to vote to elect their local village government. In a tweet, he said, “The first phase of polling has started today for the panchayat election in Jharkhand. Best wishes to all the candidates, voters and election workers on the occasion of this great festival of democracy.”
Meanwhile, opposition BJP in the afternoon knocked at the doors of the state election commission accusing violation of democratic rights of some candidates in Chatra district and sought action against deputy commissioner Anjali Yadav.
Saroj Singh, a part of the three-member BJP delegation, which submitted the memorandum, said, “In some polling booths at Seema panchayat, the Chatra DC forcefully evacuated polling agents of some select candidates. As per the norms, every candidate is entitled to have two polling agents at the booths for a proper vigil. The act of the DC has now raised questions in the particular region. We have demanded action against the DC,” he said.