Polling in Thanjavur Lok Sabha Constituency passed off peacefully barring a few incidents of malfunctioning of EVMs and protests from the voters on Friday.
Polling commenced on a brisk note as voters lined up at almost all the booths in hundreds right from 7 a.m. when the electoral exercise commenced. Pandals were put up near the booths where it was needed was viewed as a relief by voters as it helped them evade the scorching sun to some extent.
While drinking water cans with dispensers were made available and the election staff at several booths, in some they were kept in a place that was inaccessible to voters. As the heat became unbearable, cool drinks were supplied to the polling officials and as well as to the polling agents presumably sponsored by the candidate’s representatives.
Meanwhile, at a booth in Maruvur near Thiruvaiyaru, the polling station managers provided drinking water in conventional containers instead of in plastic water dispensers.
As far as the arrival and departure of the voters at the booths were concerned, the electorates were allowed to be dropped and picked up by their relatives on their vehicles at the gate of polling stations and at some places private transport vehicles went up to the booth’s entrance to drop and pick up senior citizen and persons with disabilities, presumably to ensure the Election Commission’s objective to “achieve” a near total polling of 100%.
At some booths particularly in Budalur, it was a merry time for the children who accompanied the senior members of their families as they were busy playing under the tree shades on the open grounds until their parents/family members completed their democratic exercise. Their counterparts in Thanjavur town had the pleasure of enjoying a ‘priceless’ battery vehicle ride at the Rajah Serfoji Government College, Thanjavur, where a Pasumai Vakkuchavadi (Green Booth) and a model polling booth with wi-fi connection. Around 200 voters used the battery vehicle service by around 1 p.m., according to the civic body staff whom the District Election Department engaged to operate the ‘green vehicle’.
While the complaints of malfunctioning EVMs reported from several parts of Thanjavur Parliamentary Constituency were rectified immediately by replacing the malfunctioned units, the polling officials at some of the booths, particularly in Urban pockets such as Thanjavur town, were unable to handle the queries of missing of names in the voter list from the electorates.
