Pakistan refugees, Rajasthanis cast votes

COIMBATORE: Eighty-year-old  Shuli Rajani, a refugee from Pakistan, who settled in Coimbatore about 60 years ago, is frail and struggles to walk. But on Monday morning, she  hobbled to the polling station in R.S.Puram, to keep her date with democracy in Tamil Nadu..

“I was a refugee from Balochistan in Pakistan. At the age of 23 when I got married, I moved  to Coimbatore with my husband. I have been voting in Coimbatore for the last 57 years,” she gleams proudly, showing her inked index finger.

From Pakistani refugees to Rajasthanis and Bengalais, many north Indians who have made tranquil Kovai their home, enthusiastically queued up at the polling booths on Monday to cast their votes.  

A Bengali, Subrato Majumdher who runs a textile business in Sai Baba Colony, cast his vote at T.A. Ramalinga Chettair higher secondary school. “I came here from Kolkata almost 15 years ago. The election scenario here in Coimbatore is quite different from Kolkata.  I find it very peaceful here and the booths are  well arranged and voters are disciplined, which is not the case in West Bengal.”

The family of Ashok Kumar Acharya, who settled in R.S.Puram, a hub of North Indians, in 1991, have been casting their vote without a miss for the last 26 years. “Ever since we left Kolkata we haven’t gone to cast our votes there.

The law and order  is so much better, whoever the government comes to power, they are stable,” shares Ashok Kumar Acharya, who runs a cotton yarn business.

Gujarati twin brothers Karan D. Thacker and Kaushal D. Thacker look quite excited after casting their maiden vote. “This is our first time vote and it feels great that now we too are a part of the democratic  process. Everyone must vote, as it is the only way we can expect to bring some changes in the system,” said the 18- year-old twin brothers studying in a city college.

And 81-year-old Atma Ram Sharma, who moved in to Kovai in  1968, too promptly turned up at the R.S.Puram polling booth to cast his vote on
Monday.

“The first time I voted, the facilities were too little. Now we have electronic voting machines,” he said, after casting his vote.