UP polls: 90yr-old hopes her vote will bring peace

Barely able to walk and bent over with the weight of age, 90-year-old Razia Khatun could not falter the enthusiasm on her face – she had come to cast her vote.

Helped by her daughter in-law, she entered Sirajnagar High School looking eager. Voters waiting in long queue outside took pity on the elder and ushered her in.

But the wrinkled hands, shaking uncontrollably, had trouble casting the ballot in the box. Helped by an on-duty Ansar, she finally cast her vote for her choice of chairman candidate for Keraniganj's Taranagar union.

When asked why she had walked a long half mile at such state to vote, a defiant Razia told The Daily Star: "I just want peace" – barely being able to speak at the same. "I cast my vote hoping for peace."

The centre's Assistant Presiding Officer Shilpi Begum said: "We had a small problem because she could not cast her ballot. But in the end, our presiding officer and polling agents allowed an Ansar member to help her."

She was one of the voters in 639 unions of 47 districts who are exercising their franchise in the second phase of the union parishad elections throughout the country.

Though the first phase claimed lives of at least 12 in violence, the enthusiasm did not waver – for at least the voters in Keraniganj – when The Daily Star visited several polling centres in the morning.

"Voting is going on peacefully. People are casting their ballots in a festive atmosphere," said Mumtaz Begum, an executive magistrate deployed for Keraniganj's Taranagar.

The attendance of female voters appeared overwhelming through several polling centres including Ati Bhawal High School, Dhadar Char Shahid Kindergarden and other polling centres.