 Booth capturing and Seshan Sahib 1996
 I was posted to Jhunjhunu Distrct of Rajasthan which is somewhere in the ‘Thar’ desert for performing the duty of the Election Observer during the 1996 General Elections. Mr. Seshan had insisted that we spend one week in our constituencies in the pre – polling period. Instead of one observer per constituency we were to have three observers in each parliamentary constituency.
I was going from village to village inspecting the polling arrangements duly escorted by my car driver and my gun man (this was the first occasion in my life that I was roaming around with a gun man in toe.) Courtesy Mr. Seshan, our person had to be well protected. We had to make our presence felt in all the rural and urban areas as the fully guarded representatives of the Election Commission who meant nothing but business.
 In Tamilnadu , we do not hear about the incidents of booth capturing which are often reported by the press in Bihar and UP and other Northern states. From some places there are reports about intimidation to weaker sections etc. and preventing them from exercising the adult franchise.
In other places, the impostors go and cast their votes. I wanted to get some more information on this aspect from people so that these incidents could be avoided.
People in many villages confirmed that these things were not uncommon in rural areas and have been going on during the past elections. It was most interesting to me to know that my driver had cast votes for seven persons and my gunman for ten people during the previous election.
Only then, did I realise that it was not a practise adopted only by goondas and anti – social elements. Here were two respectable government servants, one working as a driver and the other working as a policeman and they had been casting more than one vote without any remorse.
In fact, both defended their actions saying "what is the use of everyone to leave all the work and go for voting. It is enough if one person votes on behalf of his family, one leader votes on behalf of his clan, one chief votes on behalf of his tribe and one headman votes on behalf of his village."
I could see there was a lot of pragmatic logic in what they were saying. Many women in those areas do not come out of their homes so some men have to be deputed for voting for the women who are home bound.
Similarly if the villagers have decided in a panchayat to support a particular candidate then why should the entire village go for voting? One person is enough. Strictly speaking these cannot be called booth capturing in the sense in which we understand booth capturing, yet technically there are instances of booth capturing when one man comes and votes for the entire village.
The terrain in the area is arid, hot and inhospitable. There is a lack of water and transport and women traditionally do not go out and so this is how polling is done. No one complains. Perhaps it suits all political parties to keep women out.
However, people were very hopful that this time it would not happen. When I asked them why they said that Seshan sahib had made excellent arrangements and they used such Hindi expressions like ‘wah wah Seshan sahib ke kya kahne’ (what to say about the greatness of Seshan sahib).
Mr. Seshan had particularly asked the district authorities to ensure that polls should be free and fair. He had fixed a definite amount for spending as poll expense. He had banned the use of vehicles for transporting persons to polling booths. He was bent upon ordering the re-polls and re- counting if there was any doubt raised or complaints received. Everybody was the singing praise of Mr.
Seshan.
 On the other hand, my driver and gun men were very confident that Seshan or no Seshan, they would do precisely what they did every year. Their native places were outside my duty area, so I could not keep an eye on them directly. At the same time, I was curious to know what happened.
Inspite of all the arrangements which we had made and all the confidence, protection and guidance we had given to the poll staff, they were still allowing these type of practices. I told my driver and gun man to go to their native place to cast the vote (or votes) while I was resting. I also had a bet with them that if they succeeded in casting more than one vote, I would give them five hundred rupees each.
They both returned after one hour with a long face. For the first time in their life they had not succeeded in casting extra votes. They said "Hukkam, Seshan sahib ka bada jor chal raha hai. Allow hi nahi kar rahe hai.’ (people are afaid of Seshan sahib.They did not allow us to cast extra votes). I was happy that I would not have to write adverse remarks about the incidents of impersonation in the District.
I told them it was time to change the old ways and move on and listen to Seshan sahib and let every man or woman decide for himself or herself.
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