Democracy wins as people come out in large numbers to vote

 

Reviving a blog which has remained dormant for three years is not easy, but it is possible. I am trying to do just that, having just given it a new title, People, Places, Things: Reflections & Stories – a title that signals the range, retaining a personal, reflective tone, a bit structured as well as open-ended, which I think suits a revival. In the days ahead, I will try to curate interesting nuggets from newspapers and websites of repute, with observations when I have anything to add. So, I am back and let me begin right away with the focus on the April 23rd elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

 

Talks over the past month or so in Chennai and Tamil Nadu have centred around the elections, from poll promises to vigorous campaigns to final voting. Unlike in recent years, there was palpable excitement in the last days leading to voting day. April 23 arrived, nice and quiet, but hot from the start. But people were active early, walking down roads and streets as polling booths opened at 7 to let the first voters in. Figures trickled in through the day on TV screens and mobile phones about the polling percentage in different constituencies, districts and regions. When the final numbers arrived late in the evening and were splashed on the front pages of newspapers the following morning, one thing was clear – people had come out in large numbers to vote and democracy had won.

Tamil Nadu made electoral history… as it recorded its highest polling percentage in an assembly election – 85.15%, The Hindu reported. In Chennai, the assembly constituencies in the north registered a higher turnout, with Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar recording 90.5%, the highest among Chennai’s 16 constituencies. Perambur registered 89.79%, the second highest in the city. Mylapore and Saidapet saw the lowest, recording 74.89% and 77.84% respectively.

A small step for democracy, a giant leap for special intensive revision (SIR) – this was the opening line in The Times of India lead article following the day of polling. That probably explains the 85.15% voter turnout in the Tamil Nadu assembly election, the second line said. Among the districts in Tamil Nadu, Karur topped with 93% polling. (For the record, Velusamypuram, located on the outskirts of Karur, was where 41 people died in a stampede during a rally addressed by TVK President Vijay in September last year.) The other districts that topped 90% were Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Erode – the western region recorded the highest turnout. The districts with the lowest turnout were Kanyakumari (75.61), Sivaganga (76.61%), Ramanathapuram (77.03%), Tirunelveli (77.93%) and Nilgiris (78.95%).

West Bengal scaled even higher. The state registered a record voter turnout of 92.88% in the first phase of assembly election, according to The Hindu. In the districts, Cooch Behar led with 96.04% polling, followed by Dakshin Dinajpur (95.44%) and Jalpaiguri (94.65%), The Hindu reported, adding that Murshidabad, which recorded the highest number of deletion of electors during the adjudication phase, recorded a voter turnout of 93.61%.

There was an interesting report in The Hindu abut tribal people in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) braving odds to cast their votes. A challenging terrain and lack of transport did not deter voters from tribal settlements of ATR from exercising their franchise, and residents reached the booths on foot and in vehicles arranged by the Forest Department, the report said, with a picture of people walking along a path through the forest.

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There is no use of the government announcing welfare schemes if they are meant to remain on paper, the Madras High Court has said. A Times of India report mentions the court making the observation while ordering a sanction of Rs 30 lakh as educational loan to a Christian minority MBBS student studying in the Philippines. According to the state, since the loan application was not recommended by any bank, it was not placed before the screening committee. However, the court, referring to the Minorities Welfare Guide introduced in October 2021 by the state to encourage and motivate minority students in pursuing higher studies abroad by providing certain benefits, ruled in favour of the petitioner.

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Reporter Ramendra Singh, writing for The Times of India, throws the spotlight on a 15-year-old girl from Madhya Pradesh. Nausheen Naz is India’s most exciting woman hockey forward prospect, he says, mentioning her gaining a place in the Under-18 Asia Cup squad for Japan. It is a heartwarming story, of a journey beginning in a cramped, roofless rented shack in Seoni. She played initially with a borrowed stick and later with borrowed gear. Hard work often fetches results. Her story changed when the MP Hockey Academy spotted her in 2023 and took her into its fold, providing her gear, training and a proper diet. Nausheen says she has now only one goal and that is playing for India.

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Let me end this blog with an extraordinary story that appeared in The Times of India, complete with an AI-generated image to match. A tribal man from Rasli Village in Gujarat’s Chhota Udepur District fought off a leopard with his bare hands even as he held on to his four-year-old daughter who the animal was minutes earlier dragging away. The father kept punching the animal with one hand and somehow forced open its jaws, getting the wild cat to finally let go and flee. Tushar Tere is the reporter.