‘Beauty of Indian democracy’: Women officers dominate polling in Puducherry’s Mahe region

Chennai: Showcasing the spirit of the Indian democracy, all the polling process in the Mahe region of the Union Territory of Puducherry is being dominated and controlled by women.

Mahe has 31,000 voters and has 31 polling booths which are dominated and controlled by women polling officers.

The Mahe province is geographically situated in Kerala and borders Thalassery in the Kannur district and Vadakara in the Kozhikode district of Kerala.

As per the Mahe administration, a total of 140 women polling officers have been deployed for the smooth conduct of elections in the region. Each polling booth has four officers including a Presiding Officer (PO) and three Polling Officers (POs).

Around 124 women polling officers are on duty while 16 women officers have been put on stand-by in the constituency.

Interestingly, the police officers on duty at the booths are also women. Each booth has two women police officers.

Sreekala, a voter in Pandakkal, Mahe told IANS that all women polling booths in the Mahe region make them proud.

“This is the beauty of Indian democracy. Women controlling the entire polling process including law and order is a novel experience,” Sreekala told IANS.

In the Lok Sabha elections for the lone seat in Puducherry, Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Puducherry V. Vaithilingam is seeking reelection.

Former Puducherry State Congress President, A. Nammassivayam who switched to BJP and is presently the Home Minister of the Union Territory is contesting against Vaithilingam.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Vaithilingam won the seat by a margin of 1,97, 025 votes.