81-year-old hopes to get his rights back

Kolkata: This octogenarian had once been a poll administrator. The Salt Lake resident had also made it a point to cast his vote in each election. But Sudarshan Kumar Maity, 81, could not vote during the Bidhannagar civic elections last October.

The senior citizen hopes no one will rob him of his right on Monday .

“I was approaching the booth gate at the FC community hall when some youths, all unknown faces, stopped me. They told me to go back home as my vote had already been cast. I was taken aback. I looked around for some locals who could help me protest, but found none. I walked back home hurt, frustrated and disappointed at my voting rights being snatched for the first time,“ recounted the retired government official.

Maity wanted to protest but with a pacemaker and a lower back problem that makes walking painful, he felt intimidated. He beat a retreat. “I never faced this kind of intimidation in my entire life. I am sure if all mechanisms to stop the infiltration of outsiders were activated, I would not have been denied my right,“ he added.

In the Fifties, the retired irrigation department officer had been deputed as a presiding officer during the general elections. He said he had to be fair to his role as poll administrator, and that he had never fallen prey to political pressure.“It is sad that the culture of poll violence has seeped into this township. This can't be accepted. Residents should rise against intimidation and violence,“ he told TOI.

“I have been cheated once. But I do not want it to happen again. I will head to the poll booth early in the morning. I hope the administration does not let me down this time,“ Maity said.