When Elections Make You Come Home

Jeevan Jyoti Ratha, his wife Suman Mishra and a friend in Bhubaneswar for voting on Tuesday

Elections are also about home-coming as many non-resident Odias visited home to cast their votes.

Sargam Chhotray, a first-time voter, feels India has the best Constitution in the world and it needs to be preserved. “Realising how important it is to not let a vote go wasted, is like an awakening,” Sargam said, who travelled from Koraput to cast her vote. “One can see the plight of third-world countries that wanted to get alienated from democracy. The last time round, I was in Pune and was unable to come here to vote, but I have now shifted to Odisha, so I made it a point to vote. This was my first time and I was really excited. It took me a lot of time to finalise on who to vote.”

Dibyendu Dipankar Dash, a trainee pilot in New Delhi, too, was in the city on Tuesday to vote. “Initially, I didn’t take it seriously, but the enthusiasm among people around me was overpowering. And I decided that being a citizen of a democratic country, I should not fail to exercise my franchise. Only then do we become part of the development process,” he said.

“I also convinced a few of my friends to come down with me,” said Dash.

“It is the desire for change that motivated voters to come out in large numbers and I did not want to regret later that I didn’t do my bit for my country,” says 28-year old Abhipsa Mishra, an HR professional with an MNC who resides with her husband in Mumbai. “There was no way I could get train tickets, so my husband and I booked flight tickets. It burnt a huge hole in our pockets but that’s fine, voting is equally important,” said Abhipsa, who cast her vote at a polling booth in Jaydev Vihar.

Some were reluctant to vote, too. “Neither do I believe in the promises made by political parties, nor am I satisfied with any of them. So why vote,” asked Madhusmita Swain, who is pursuing a course in hotel management in Kolkata. But she changed her mind after a conversation with her cousin sister. “I was conversing with my sister over the phone. I thought that demanding one’s rights was justified only when one exercises one’s electoral duty. So, I came for a day to Bhubaneswar to cast my vote,” she said.

Shibani Routray, a homemaker, flew from Hyderabad to exercise her right. “We don’t want money from the government or anything for free. I am looking forward to better opportunities. I am looking forward to a change in the government both at the Centre and in the state. I want a party which stands for environmental causes and involves the community in these things,” she says.

Jeevan Jyoti Ratha came down with his wife Suman Mishra for the same purpose. He feels there is a need for the younger generations to understand their candidates before voting.

“People like us who reside outside are hardly aware of how candidates or the party they belong to have been faring. So, before voting I spoke to a lot of people about development that have happened in my area and then came down to vote,” she said.