The Hindu : Breakfast and voting

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 13, 2002

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Other States - Gujarat

Breakfast and voting

Ahmedabad Dec. 12. The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi's catch phrase ``Pahle Matdaan, Phir Jalpaan''(first vote, then breakfast) did work on the polling day, though not necessarily in the same order.

People came in sizeable numbers in the morning hours to cast their votes, but not all of them came with empty stomachs. ``This catch phrase of the Chief Minister is only a rabble-rousing rhetoric and there is hardly any plausible connection between breakfast and balloting,'' said a voter, preferring anonymity, in the Chief Minister's Maninagar constituency. ``Anyway, my mind becomes fudgy if I don't have a proper breakfast. I am here to vote and my stomach is full,'' he added.

However, the former Union Law Minister and BJP national spokesman, Arun Jaitley, said he had come to vote without having breakfast.

Mr. Jaitley and his wife Sangeeta cast their votes at a polling booth in Amardeep High School in Ellisbridge constituency. Besides Mr. Jaitley, four senior BJP leaders, including the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, who are registered voters in Gujarat, exercised their franchise.

Weddings no bar

Wedding bells chimed through most parts of the day but did not take a toll on the parties in terms of voter turnout.

Most of the parties, especially the BJP, had a gnawing fear that marriages on voting day could lead to a spurt in parties and a shortfall in the head count at the hustings.

But the fear proved largely unfounded as people attended marriage ceremonies and then came to vote. ``In Gujarat, most of the marriages are performed during the daytime and are normally over by 2 p.m.-3 p.m. That gives the voters a buffer of two hours to reach polling booths,'' said Sunilbhai Shah, whose family had booked a community hall in the Ellisbridge constituency for a marriage.

Dead voter

Ghulam Moihuddin Ghulam Ahmad came out from booth number eight at Dariapur and was immediately the centre of everyone's attention.

``I have just learnt that I am dead,'' he declared after he was denied his vote.

Displaying his voter card, the 62-year-old said he had never missed voting in an election in the past.

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Breakfast and voting