Polling station sanitized for India’s tenant number 1 | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Polling station sanitized for India’s tenant number 1

Hindustan Times | ByRahul Karmakar/HT Correspondent Rahul Karmakar/HT Correspondent Rahul Karmakar/HT Correspondent Rahul Karmakar/HT Correspondent Rahul Karmakar/HT Correspondent Rahul Karmakar/ HT Correspondent, Guwahati
Apr 22, 2009 05:57 PM IST

A wall separates Dispur Government Higher Secondary School from a camp of the Sashastra Seema Bal. But that does not guarantee foolproof security for India’s most high-profile tenants.

A wall separates Dispur Government Higher Secondary School from a camp of the Sashastra Seema Bal. But that does not guarantee foolproof security for India’s most high-profile tenants.

HT Image
HT Image

The SPG has thus ‘sanitized’ the houses, two hospitals, a hotel, sundry shops and a cowshed around the 75m long narrow lane connecting the school and Guwahati-Shillong Road. The police and plainclothesmen have likewise combed clean the rest of the 3 km stretch from the school to the helipad in the Khanapara locality in Guwahati.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

On the other hand, the tenants’ rented house barely a kilometer from the school has a lone policeman standing guard. Even the landlady – Hemoprova Saikia, widow of former Assam chief minister Hiteswar Saikia – of House Number 3989 is away at Nazira in eastern Assam. It’s obvious that her absentee tenants of 18 years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife
Gursharan Kaur, will not be “coming home”.

That is a let down for Saikia’s neighbours at Nandan Nagar in the Sarumotoria locality. But Harish Kataki, presiding officer of the polling station at Dispur Government HS School, isn’t complaining. He is aware of the “huge responsibility” when electors number 726 and 727 come flying in a special chopper to cast on Thursday their votes at “my centre”.

Against these two numbers in the electoral rolls under Dispur Assembly seat one of 10 under Guwahati LS constituency are the names of the PM and his wife respectively.

“Security isn’t as much of a concern as trying to ensure the other voters are not inconvenienced at the polling centre while the PM is here,” Kamrup (Metro) deputy commissioner Prateek Hajela told Hindustan Times.

Singh and Kaur would be two of 172029433 voters who would be exercising their franchise across Assam’s 11 LS constituencies in Phase 2B of polling on Thursday.

Interestingly, the PM would be casting his vote after over a decade. He skipped the 2004 Lok Sabha and the 2006 Assembly elections despite campaigning extensively for the Congress.

In 2006, Singh and Kaur were in the Northeast a day before polling, but did not stay back. This triggered widespread criticism with the BJP and Asom Gana Parishad stating he had failed to set an example and take part in the
democratic process to deal a moral blow to secessionist groups.

Singh, notably, has been elected four times as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam since 1991. That year, Hiteswar Saikia had made Singh his tenant overnight to ensure his eligibility. Singh was paying an annual rent of Rs 7000 until it was revised upwardly after he became PM.

Unveiling Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Mukhtar Ansari Death News Live, Bihar Board 10th Result 2024 Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On