Rina Massi, 49, teacher at Anganwadi school in Samardha which was set up in 2000, has been living in the village for the last 22 years and has been appointed booth-level officer in several elections. Here's her first-person account on why Indian democracy can relax and breathe: it's in safe hands! Read on:
 

It was around 22 years ago that I came to Samardha village with my husband and since then I have been a part of all the elections. This village has always kept away from the hooliganism attached to elections but that in no way means that enthusiasm levels among villagers have been any lower.

Samardha started out with just two-three families that owned large pieces of land in and around the village. The originals included a very affluent Muslim family, which has moved out to Bhopal, the Rajput family and the Darohi tribal clan. Over the years, the growth of the industrial activity in Mandideep, which is around 2 kms from Samardha, attracted a lot of outsiders who then moved into the village. While some of them bought land from the original families, the others rented out their accommodation. Samardha is now home to the newer generations of the Rajput and Darohi families along with people of different tribes, castes and religions (like my own) leading a peaceful life here.

Previously, the Samardha polling booth came under the Govindpura constituency and it was after the 2007 delimitation that a separate constituency called Huzur was created of which Samardha became a part. Samardha has three polling booths where eligible individuals from the village and four nearby colonies- Krishnapuram, Radhapuram, Liberty and Shubhalay- come to vote.

Since being appointed a teacher at the Anganwadi school in the village in 2000, I have been on election duty for different elections and I must admit that my job has become easier over the years! Initially, it was a mammoth task to convince people especially the women to get out of their homes on election day and cast their votes. This has significantly changed over the last few years.

Previously, I would have to go from one house to another and explain what voting means, its importance and how it should be done- all of this in great detail. But now, I just roam around telling people the election date and giving them their slips. The one thing that all the villagers here have realised is their importance in keeping democracy alive. “Koi vote kare na kare, apan toh sarkaar zaroor banvayenge (Whether or not the others vote, I most definitely will),” most of them have often told me.

In Samardha, like most other villages, panchayat election is the event everybody looks forward to. The festivity, anxiety and participation are unparalleled. The main reason for greater participation is because the candidates seem so real and close to the voters. The candidates are from among the villagers and so there is an instant connect, something which is lacking with the netaas who are one-night wonders. The sarpanch is not a visitor who will visit the village only once or maximum twice in five years. She will instead stay in the same village, face the same issues and benefit from the same facilities available to everybody else in the village.

Poll campaigning is an integral part of the election festivity and it is a lot more fun during the panchayat polls because then apart from the candidate, everybody else in the immediate and extended family is out in the village campaigning in full spirit. And this happens a good 20 days before the village goes to polls. Apart from the posters and banners, the candidate and his/her supporters engage in door-to-door campaigning to seek votes. Also, a lot of them organise poojas and bhandaraas where the entire village comes together. Since, nobody says no to religion and free delicious food, people from all backgrounds and age groups flock near the local temple in great numbers thus providing the candidates a great platform to establish contact with the voters.

There is usually a lot of chatter in the village ahead of the polls and the important aspect here is that since the sarpanch seat is reserved for women, the women in the village also take great interest in elections. Chugli toh karte hi hao lekin kaam ki baatein bhi hoti hao (Obviously, they gossip but they also discuss important things). They do argue on who will do what for their homes, bathrooms, drains and kids.

All the necessary arrangements in terms of conveyance and ‘motivation’ to elect a particular candidate as the village head are made in advance because each and every vote counts. On the polling day, the cars and buses line up in the village lanes to ensure easy access to the polling booth. The sense of thrill among the villagers on the polling day as they queue up outside the government-run primary school and the Anganwadi school patiently waiting for their turn to cast their vote is palpable.

Meanwhile, all this excitement is a little difficult to replicate in the assembly and general elections because of the distance between the voters and the candidates. Like I mentioned before, the candidates mostly visit the village only during campaigning and so the villagers don’t really know them. While the men still take interest to know the candidates fielded by parties and those contesting independently, for the women it is only the political party and the opinions of the men in the household which matter.

This time around, the campaigning has been a low-key affair because of the election commission’s strict code of conduct but then it hardly matters. Because the decision has already been made. Party flags, banners and rallies do not really create an impact.

The day of the announcement of results is my favourite part of elections. Irrespective of the type of elections, anxiety levels touch an all-time high. Men sitting in the local temple, at the main kirana shop, etc., can be heard making final negotiations on their bets as to who will win. Women on the other hand quickly finish their household chores waiting to hear if they had voted for the winners.

And once the results are out, the halla just does not stop. The men who have won their bets cannot stop ridiculing the losing team and immediately start preparing for the party-sharty to celebrate the victory of their candidates. In case of the panchayat elections, the distribution of sweets starts almost instantaneously after the results are declared and firecrackers are burst like there is no tomorrow. And after the celebrations have subsided in a day or two, life gets back to normal.

It is all routine and monotonous again till another wedding, Diwali or the next elections.

(As told to Srishti Pandey)