HONOUR OUR VOTES

This year, for the General Election 2014, I was appointed by the Election Department with the polling team to the area called Tumlabong under Martam-Rumtek constituency. The area had 864 numbers of electors. On the day of voting i.e.12 April, 715 people proudly cast their valuable votes. In the process of my duty and the overall preview of the scenario these are the points I saw and experienced, and which I felt like sharing.

The Polling Agent’s assignments are very vital and they have to be there at the polling booth precisely on time. It is they who hold the vision of the party, the leader, of a season breaching over the horizon. They are the living manifesto of a party for the area demarcated. It’s they who start the gala and it’s in their presence we close the message in the bottle. I was explaining this to an agent at the polling station that you have to truly love the job that you have been assigned.

When tourists visit Sikkim, they say it is beautiful and they are deeply touched by the hospitality and warmth of the citizens of Sikkim. The queue that prevailed on the voting day said it all, the faithfulness of every Sikkimese was evident. I feel that the future leaders of Sikkim should firmly etch this in their minds that they have that red light beeping in their cars because of these citizens; the old lady who walked for miles to cast her vote, the partially paralyzed man, the partially blind man, the lady trembling with fever, pregnant women, a housewife who left her kids at home, people with hypertension and various ailments, young people flocking in from far colleges. Why were they here? Just to hear that nostalgic beeeeeep by pressing a button? (Which I sincerely asked each voter to hear it properly as they were electing their candidate for the next five years) I humbly feel that Sikkimese citizens have not only cast their rights on 12^th April, but they have pressed that button for A TRUST,so that Sikkim may be a heavenly abode for generations to come, A FAITH for better days by all the elders and A PATHWAY, for all the young.

I feel that the leaders who win, when they take that oath for the days to come, they should remember every voter who pressed that button; they ought to remember the trembling hands of the elderly, the mother who woke up early to finish her chores, the young people who came from afar and all those waiting in long queues battling the scorching sun at the polling station.

The leaders should know that 80% of the citizens of Sikkim have cast their faith for a better Sikkim. No matter who wins or loses but we the citizens have said it all, that we rely on you. Now it’s your turn to march ahead and take our state to new heights and bring glory to our state.

Lawrence Lepcha, Assistant Engineer (Mech), Roads & Bridges Department, Sikkim PWD, Gangtok, East Sikkim