Located along Jharkhand's Latehar and Garhwa districts, Budha Pahad was freed recently from the Naxalites' control by security forces after over three decades. Halkan Kisan, a 37-year-old voter on Monday exercised his vote for the first time at his own booth at 'Budha Pahad'.
Budha Pahad falls under the Palamu Lok Sabha seat. Kisan cast his vote at booth no 420 in the government's upgraded middle school, Hesatu, along with hundreds of voters from different villages fearlessly.
"I have exercised my vote at my own booth for the first time in my life. Earlier, our booth used to be relocated, around 13 km from my village, due to impact of the Maoist in the locality. Very few voters used to go to vote in relocated place. Now, the area has become free from Maoist activity and people are enthusiastically exercising their votes," told Kisan.
Notably, there are a total of 771 electors who are eligible to exercise their votes at the mentioned booth. By 1 pm, the booth had registered 68 per cent polling.
Block programming officer, Bargarh, Md Hashim Ansari told PTI, "Several arrangements have been made for voters such as shed, drinking water and ambulance. Besides, vehicles have also been arranged for the elderly and physically challenged voters.”
Terror-free Budha Pahad
On April 20, Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar and senior police officers visited the booth. During his visit, Kumar had said that the voters would exercise their franchise for the first time at their places after many decades. He gave credit to security forces for making this place terror-free.
However, the other three booths in Budha Pahad have been relocated due to security reasons. Currently, voting is underway in four Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand - Singhbhum, Lohardaga, Khunti and Palamu on Monday.
The Budha Pahad was freed from left-wing extremists through three special operations that were launched at the beginning of April 2022. During these operations, a total of 14 Naxalites were killed, while 590 others were either apprehended or had surrendered.
(With PTI Inputs)
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