DUTY OF BENGAL PANCHAYAT ELECTION OF 2013 AT PATHAR PRATIMA BLOCK (SUNDERBANS DELTA REGION) !!!

Shakti:- In this Bengal Panchayat Election of 2013, even the Staffs of PSU Banks have been allotted the duty of a Polling Personnel. I am a key-holder of a Branch, but, still, I have been assigned the polling duty.

Arindam:- Actually, there is still too much shortage of manpower. That’s why; they are picking up many people from PSU Banks also. In earlier polls, very few staffs of PSU Banks were given the polling duty. But, in this election, they have taken too many Bank Staffs. Anyway, as per the order, we have to go for the duty.

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Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- We have collected all the polling materials from the DCRC (Distribution Centre cum Receiving Centre) of Pathar Pratima Block. We have to cross the river from Ramganga Jetty Ghat to reach Pathar Pratima Block. After reaching there, we have to go by machine-van for 45 minutes or so to reach our polling booth at West Dwarakapur area. There is no electricity and the roads are not so good. So, be prepared for that. We have been given two Armed Policemen from Bengal Police. Both these Policemen are young and from West Midnapore region. Now, I am taking one ballot box. Both of you take one ballot box each.

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Dhiren (2^nd Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Kato dur bhai...aar kato dur. We have been sitting on this machine-van for 45 minutes or so. But, still, we have not reached the booth.

Gopal (The machine-van driver):- Ei jeh Sir, we have just reached the polling booth. This is the new building of the West Dwarakapur Primary School.

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Chapadar (A Sector Officer of Pathar Pratima Block):- Sir, as per your request, all arrangements are ready. Villagers have already requested a cook to do some cooking for tonight. They will also provide some tables, benches and other things so that you can make three secret counters for polling. Officially, we cannot tell anyone to make three secret counters in any polling station. But, generally, in this type of panchayat election, where three separate ballot papers are used by each voter, it is feasible to make three secret counters to speed up the process.

Naskar (3^rd Polling Officer of Booth No.161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Abhiggatar sab samay aykta daam ashe. We were already discussing among ourselves regarding that only. Whether you permit us or not, we will make three secret counters only by taking a consensus from all polling agents of this polling booth.

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A Polling Agent of TMC:- Look, Sir! I have come here at 6.15 AM, but, the polling agents of other parties are yet to come here. They may come late intentionally to delay the start of the polling.

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Rule is Rule! The polling will start at sharp 7 AM at any cost even if not a single polling agent is present here.

A Polling Agent of CPI (M):- Oh! The Polling agent of TMC and the polling agent of BJP are already here. Ok! Sir, now, it is 6.25 AM, show us the empty ballot boxes. We will then sign the small papers. Then, you will seal all the ballot boxes in front of us.

Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Ok! Let us start the proceedings.

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Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- It is 7 AM now. The polling starts.

Murmu (an armed cop of Bengal Police):- Hansda, have you ordered those party men of two parties to remove all the placards within 200 meters of this polling booth.

Hansda (an armed cop of Bengal Police):- I told the 1^st Polling Officer to request all the polling agents to remove those placards. All the polling agents told their respective party men to remove those placards. They have already removed those placards. You look after the queue and I will patrol outside the booth.

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A Polling agent of BJP:- Sir, within 1 hour, only 47 voters have cast their respective vote. In total, there are around 660 voters in this booth. You need to speed up. If you work slowly like this, then the polling will not end by 5 PM.

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- I am doing this duty for the first time. Let me take some time to understand the nature of the pitch. Once I settle down well, I will score more runs rapidly. The poll will be completed well before 5 PM if all the voters plan to vote within 4 PM or so.

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Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- 1^st Polling Officer, what’s the status now after 5 hours of polling? It is 12 noon now.

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- At present, 345 voters have casted their votes. Out of them, 206 are female voters and 139 are male voters. 

A Polling Agent of CPI (M):- Sir, this is the first time, where so many female voters have come to the polling booth to cast their votes. In earlier polls, only around 70% of female voters use to come to the polling booth.

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Pradhan (4^th Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- You are wasting some time in tearing those ballot papers from the slips. Let us do one thing. Even if a voter knows to sign, take his/her left thumb impression on the ballot paper counterfoil to speed up the process. You just check the serial number of a voter and his/her Voter ID card and then write the serial number on the counterfoil. I will take the voter’s LTI on the counterfoil and give the ballot paper to the voter after tearing it up. Then, as usual, I will make the ink-mark on the left hand finger of that voter.

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Ok! Done!

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Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- It is 5 PM now. 1^st Polling Officer, what’s the score now?

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Sir! It is 624 votes out of 660 voters. In this booth, total voters are 667. 7 are dead. So, number of valid voters is 660. 320 male voters and 304 female voters have cast their respective vote today. So, in total, 94.5% of voters have come to this booth. If you round it up, it is 95% which is quite good. 

Dhiren (2^nd Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- After 4 PM, only 3 voters came to cast their vote. Within 4 PM itself, it was 621 votes. Overall, it is a good polling. Good response from voters.

A Polling Agent of TMC:- Sir, you increased your speed at the 3^rd and 4^th slot. That’s why; everything got finished so early. In the adjacent booths of this area, the polling process may get end by 10 PM tonight. 

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Ok! Thanks for the compliment. Sir, it is already 5.05 PM now. Declare the end of poll and send an SMS to Message Centre of Election Commission that the polling of this Booth No. 161 has ended successfully. 

Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Yes, I am already doing it and I hereby declare that the poll has ended. 

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A Villager of Pathar Pratima Block:- Sir, some of our villagers will also go with you all. We will be on another machine-van to follow your machine-van to ensure that no ballot-box capturing takes place. Already those incidents happened in the past. 

Naskar (3^rd Polling Officer of Booth No.161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Oh! Babah! Taai naaki! Se toh dangerous byapar! Sir! Ektu e byapare bibechona kore dyakhen. Jayega taa toh subidher noy dekshi.

Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Ok! I have no problem if some villagers accompany us till the Jetty Ghat of Pathar Pratima. 

Dhiren (2^nd Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Generally, how many bullets you are given for this duty.

Murmu (an armed cop of Bengal Police):- 30 rounds of bullets. Don’t worry; we are from West Midnapore. We have dealt with Maoists also.

 

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Pradhan (4^th Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- What’s the matter! Why the DCRC team is not accepting our ballot boxes?

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Actually, in every paper, there should be the seal of the Polling Booth. Moreover, there should be separate documents for Zilla Parishad, Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti. Some envelopes are to be sealed and some remain unsealed. Not only have that, all unused ballot papers and voter’s slips should also be kept in a separate envelope. Our Presiding Officer (PRO) has filled up all the documents but those wax sealing and stamping work is pending. 

Naskar (3^rd Polling Officer of Booth No.161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Dyakso kando! Arrey Baba! Boi ta ki mukh dyakte disse! Boi pora thakle por, eto problem hoito naa. Our PRO has not read the Manual Book properly. All other PROs have read the Manual Book. That’s why; their ballot boxes got received smoothly.

Dhiren (2^nd Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block whispering at Arindam):- Naskar Babu and Pradhan Babu are fond of giving too much lectures only. Actually, our team is like a team of dramatists and of diverse nature. Pradhan Babu is wearing a dhuti-punjabi and works in Public Affairs. Sarifuddin Babu is a Muslim teacher of a Madrasah Primary School who is fasting in this Ramzan month. You are in a PSU Bank and I am a High School Teacher. Naskar Babu is a primary school teacher who is always wearing a half-sleeve shirt and a lungi. I thought that he is a Muslim person when I saw him for the first time. He came in DCRC also by wearing a lungi only and kept on wearing that same lungi during the duty hours also. He is still wearing that lungi only.  Ha ha ha...

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Ha ha ha...Naskar Babu is a typical and traditional villager of Rural Bengal. He still talks with the East Bengal accent while speaking Bengali.

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Sarifuddin (Presiding Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- Finally, after struggling for an hour or so, our ballot boxes got received by DCRC. They have organized some buses for various routes. Let us now take the release orders and start walking towards the Dhruvabazar Bus Stand.

Arindam (1^st Polling Officer of Booth No. 161 of Pathar Pratima Block):- We will be eagerly waiting to see which political party wins in Rural Bengal. Anyway, we have successfully completed our "DUTY OF BENGAL PANCHAYAT ELECTION OF 2013 AT PATHAR PRATIMA BLOCK (SUNDERBANS DELTA REGION).”