Chhattisgarh assembly elections: A 93-year-old man in the naxal-affected Kanker district of Chhattisgarh will exercise his voting right for the first time in his life in the forthcoming assembly elections. Sher Singh Hedko (93), who hails from the village of Bhainsakanhar (K), falling under the Bhanupratappur assembly constituency, name was recently included in the voters’ list during a door-to-door campaign led by District Collector Priyanka Shukla.
'Excited to vote'
Hedko's name had been omitted from the voters' list for several years, possibly due to errors in his documents, which could have resulted in his exclusion from the voter roll.
Following the addition of his name to the voters' list, the nonagenarian is filled with excitement about actively participating in the democratic process. He is eager to cast his vote and select his representative, said Hedko's relatives, speaking on his behalf, as he faces difficulties in speaking clearly.
Voter awareness campaign underway
A voter awareness campaign is currently underway in the district. As part of this initiative, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are conducting door-to-door campaigns to ensure the names of eligible individuals who were previously omitted from the voters' list are registered.
As part of this initiative, Booth Level Officer (BLO) Rajendra Kosma, who was visiting to register the name of Sher Singh's grandchild, discovered that the nonagenarian's name was also absent from the voter list, and he had never voted before. Consequently, the necessary procedures were carried out to include Sher Singh's name in the voter list.
Kanker District Collector Priyanka Shukla said, “This is a remarkable achievement of our BLOs that they approached those, who were left out in the voters’ list for certain reasons, by visiting people at their doorsteps and ensuring the adding of their names. By acting proactively, the BLOs added names of people by helping them arrange required documents and during this exercise, the name of Sher Singh Hedko was also added."
Additionally, the names of several senior citizens in the Antagarh and Bhanupratappur blocks were included in the voter list this time. The credit for this positive change was attributed to the dedicated efforts of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and the team responsible for Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), she said.
The elections to the 90-member assembly in Chhattisgarh are slated for later this year. The legislative assembly of Chhattisgarh will end on January 3. In 2018, the Congress secured a massive victory by winning 68 seats out of 90 in the state while the BJP secured 16.
(With ANI inputs)
