The Visit in The Polling Booth
Last Saturday was the day for election in our area. It was Maharashtra Assembly Election. In civics, I have learnt that Assembly elections are also known as Vidhan Sabha elections. In our constituency, some good, hardworking and dedicated candidates were contesting the elections. My teacher told me that every citizen above the age of 18 is eligible to vote. Some days before the elections, helpers visited door to door appealing the voters to cast their valuable votes.
Schools and colleges in our town were closed on that day. All the Government offices were also closed. The traffic on the roads was less. This helped people to visit their respective election centres in large numbers. I found that there was excitement in the environment.
Although, I was not a voter, I wanted to spend entire day watching different things of our pooling booth. I decided to accompany my parents to a nearby centre where they were to cast their vote. We had to stand in a very long queue of voters. All were standing in discipline to use their right to vote. I saw adult citizens of all ages eager to register their vote. Some seemed educated and some uneducated. A few police officers maintained law and order at the polling centre. However, people were aware of their responsibility for peaceful and smooth proceedings.
The polling started from seven o’clock in the morning. Voters entered the polling booth. One by one, my parents too went inside the booth to cast their vote. My father tried to explain me the entire voting process after he returned. It was little difficult for me to understand. However, I decided to spend a few hours at the centre to observe the proceedings.
I was shocked to see the interest of the voters. There were separate queues for old, disabled and blind. I saw many old men and women standing in long queues. Many aged people on their wheel chairs were accompanied by their servants and other helpers. I even saw blind people standing in their respective queues.
There was a heavy rush in the morning hours. However, little later there was a noiseless period for couple of hours. As the closing time came nearer, once again there was a great rush of excited voters. Everything was going on smoothly and peacefully.
The polling stopped at six o’clock in the evening. Finally, the exciting day ended. Those who were already standing in the lines before six o’clock were allowed to cast their votes. I went home thinking how fast literate as well as illiterate people were becoming aware of their voting duty.