At Chinsurah bldg, voters go downstairs for date with EVM
Times of India | 21 May 2024
Kolkata: Swapan Batobyal, a septuagenarian and a resident of Chinsurah Phoolpukur, was the first to cast his vote on Monday morning at a polling booth set up on the ground floor of Purbasha apartment. Batobyal, a retired govt official, would have skipped voting had he not found a polling booth on the ground floor of the same building where he stays.
“It took me a couple of minutes to reach the booth as soon as the voting process started early in the morning. In another five minutes, I left the booth and reached home. I would have thought twice to exercise my franchise amid an intense heat had the EC not set up the booth on our apartment premises,” said Batyabyal.
In fact, the booth’s location reportedly ensured hundred per cent polling there. “Our apartment building has 100 residents of which 70 residents are eligible voters. All of them today exercised their franchise today. This was made possible because of the doorstep facility by the EC,” said a resident of Purbasha apartment building.
Moon Moon Ganguly, a senior citizen and a resident of the apartment who has been suffering from a rare muscle related disorder, took the opportunity of presence of a doorstep booth to cast her vote early in the morning to avoid standing in the queue. “I was in two minds whether I could exercise my franchise. But I was happy to find that the EC has given us the opportunity to cast our votes without any hassle,” said Ganguly.
Shanta Basu Roy, another resident and a social worker, felt exercising franchise was a democratic right which should not be neglected at any cost. In fact, he inspired the senior citizens and ailing residents of the apartment to treat the occasion as a celebration and ensure that the votes were cast on time.