Voting day in Benares was on the 16th. Everyone was supposed to have a voter ID card issued by the Election Commission of India, but once again this year, not everyone received theirs, including me. Three days before the elections, I read in the newspaper that voters could use 16 different types of documents instead of the voter ID card. Since I didn’t have a voter ID, I went to vote with my ration card and PAN card (income tax card). I first went to Assi Crossing, where assistance centers for all the major political parties were set up. This year, there were four assistance centers: BJP, Congress, SP, and BSP. I needed to get a slip with my serial number from any of these centers to verify my name on the voting list.

I chose the Congress counter because it had the least number of people, whereas the BJP counter was the most crowded. After getting my slip at the Congress counter, I decided to visit the other counters as well. At the Congress Party counter, I saw something quite unusual: they were offering breakfast to people visiting their counter, which is an illegal activity. The counter was on the main road, but the breakfast was served inside a room. They encouraged people to go inside, have breakfast, and then vote for Congress. It was surprising to see how many people switched their support this year. Those who were at the BJP counter during the last elections were now at the SP counter. It’s amazing how quickly political allegiances can change.

The BJP candidate, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi, called me a day before the election. Usually, political campaigns use automated calls, but this one seemed personal. At first, I thought it was a computer call, but the responses matched my questions, so I believe it was Mr. Joshi himself. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and couldn’t talk to him much. I would have liked to have a longer conversation with him. Mr. Joshi asked me to vote for a suitable candidate. While he never explicitly asked me to vote for him, he did identify himself at the end of the call, which was a clear hint. Since he was my preferred candidate, I voted for him, though I would have liked to ask him some questions before casting my vote. Maybe next time.

When I went to vote, I noticed there was less security than usual. There were only four or five security guards at the polling booth, whereas polling booths are typically guarded more heavily. Various party representatives were urging me to vote for their respective parties. Some individuals had Fevicol (a type of adhesive) and other chemicals, advising me to apply them to my finger before voting so I could remove the ink easily and vote multiple times for their party later in the day. They were also keeping track of those who hadn’t voted yet and planned to send someone to vote in their names. Despite these manipulations, I was content to vote only in my name.