Namame Ghosh, an IT professional, reported at the booth no. 202 in C.V.Raman Constituency at 7.10 am sharp, to cast her vote. But unlike other voters, who had their candidate in their mind, Namame did not. She was there to cast the vote using 49-O rule.
But her experience was something that she never even dreamt. She said, "Before I could enter the booth, I had to cross through a sea of agents and cadres of various parties, who were stationed some 20 meters before the booth with their voter's list, giving slips to people. Then came the getting inked business. After the inking, when I said I don't want to cast my vote for any candidate, and I asked them for 17-A register to record my choice under the rule 49-O, the polling officer told me rudely, 'If you don't want to vote for anybody, then why did you come to the
polling booth?"
Shocked, Namame tried explaining that 49-O was very much a part of an individual's right to not vote for any candidate, if they are not convinced about any candidate, the presiding officer said, 'we are not briefed about it'.
Namame said, "When I showed the circular issued by the Karnataka Election Commission on April 10 that polling officials should facilitate, if people wanted to exercise 49-O, still nothing happened. It was only when I called the Election Commission Helpline: 1950, that the presiding officer at the booth gave me a pink slip and asked me to write by name and Id. He still did not give me the 17-A register."
But Namame's trauma did not end there. "When the argument with the presiding officer was happening, another man started screaming at me using abusive language, just because I had decided not to vote for any candidate."
Similar was the case with N.P.Raghavendra Rao, a retired Principal of Bharath Electronics Pre- University College from Chamrajapet constituency who was disillusioned with the candidates from his constituency.
On Sunday morning, when he and his wife went to the booth to exercise 49-O, a shock awaited them. "When I went to the booth at Janavidhyalaya school, the presiding officer told me that there was no 49-O and 17-A register. They said that they were not briefed about it. Even after I showed the City Express article on 49-O, the presiding officer said that they had never heard of it."
Raghavendra Rao gave up his fight finally. He said, "After coming all the way to the booth, I resigned to the fate and voted for an independent, who didn't campaign much in our constituency."
Sumit Negi, Karnataka Coordinator for Aam Aadmi Party, who had been campaigning for 49-O as a part of their 'My Vote is not for sale' campaign also had to struggle on Sunday.
Speaking to City Express, he said, "When I went to the Booth no. 197 in C.V.Raman Nagar constituency, the polling officer feigned innocence and said that they were not aware of 49-O. It was only after I threatened to call the Election Commission helpline that the presiding officer relented." Negi said, "From the reports that we are getting, whenever people wanted to exercise 49-O, most of the presiding officers said that they did not know about it. Some, after negotiation relented and let the people exercise 49-O, but for others, it was unfortunate."