Bal Sansad: Kids in PM’s adopted village get a taste of democracy
A group of children in the age bracket of 11 to 17 years got a taste of democracy when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second adopted village Nagepur elected its first-ever Bal Sansad (children’s parliament) in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on Sunday.
“The (Bal Sansad) initiative is aimed at making children aware of the electoral process. Elections were held in Nagepur village and Bal Sansad has been constituted (there). Bal Sansad will be constituted in four more villages soon, ” chief development officer, Varanasi, Madhusudan, said. Bal Sansad is the brainchild of the CDO.
After the election results were declared, the Bal Sansad got a prime minister, deputy prime minister, and four ministers. The election was held at government primary school, Nagepur between 10am and 2pm on Sunday.
As many as 302 out of 475 eligible child voters cast their votes.
Twenty-four candidates were in the fray for six positions, including prime minister, deputy prime minister, sports minister, child health and nutrition ministers, culture minister and child protection minister.
Election officer Anil Tiwari said two candidates tried their luck for the PM position of prime minister. Akansha Rai was elected the first PM of the Bal Sansad, defeating Neetu Yadav by four votes. Akansha got 77 votes and Neetu secured 73 votes.
Four candidates were in the fray for the deputy PM’s post. Subham Yadav was elected deputy PM. He received 74 votes and defeated Sonu Kumar who got 71 votes.
Chandani, who was elected sanitation and environment minister, received 100 votes.
Rupa Kumari was chosen the child protection and child line minister. She got 91 votes.
Jangbahadur was elected sports, skill development and culture minister, defeating Ashna Patel by 26 votes.
Gaurav was elected the child health and nutrition minister. He received 98 votes and Suhani got 55 votes.
Nominations were filed on November 28. Later, candidates campaigned and sought votes.
Social activist Nandlal Master, who monitored the election, said, “Children enthusiastically participated in the voting. This is a good initiative and it will give (them) an idea about elections and the functioning of parliament.”
Jayapur, Kakarhia and Domari are PM Modi’s three other adopted villages in Varanasi.
