A polling station for just one voter

A polling station for just one voter

There will be one polling station in Gujarat for just one voter. This will be in the Gir forest area, Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath announced Wednesday while giving out the election schedule in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. This solitary voter is Guru Bharat Das.

"We have a polling station for the sake of this one voter." Guru Bharat Das is a lion among voters, being the solitary man to live in the abode of the Asiatic lion. A team of five election officials negotiate dense forests in Gir, Junagadh to reach his temple so that the priest can exercise his franchise.

Guru Bharatdas lives near Banej village and votes from the Una segment of the Junagadh Lok Sabha constituency. To meet the priest of a Shiva temple, one has to travel 40 km from Sasan, cutting through the Gir sanctuary.

Election officials also have to intimate the forest department officials about the polling officers who will enter the forest for this work. "The Election Commission makes it a point to inform the forest department about the number of people working on this one vote," said a forest department official.