Mahant Bharatdas Bapu prefers to live away from the material world and has made Gir forest in Gujarat his abode, where he shares his privacy with peacocks and occasional deer.
However, there is one special rendezvous which the priest never misses, especially when the election season is around.
Bapu, who is in his 50s, is the lone voter at Banej, the only such booth in the country.
Nestled inside the protected Gir forest, the Lord Shiva temple-cum-ashram falls under the jurisdiction of the Gir-West division of the the forest department.
As the juggernaut of Indian general elections has rolled out, the Gir-Somnath district poll officials got busy in setting up a poll booth, only for the priest, that would cost them Rs 10,000 and a 30 km-journey inside the Gir forest, which is the last abode of Asiatic lions.
Junagad district deputy district election officer V M Prajapati said Banej is the only such booth in the country which has a single registered voter.
Banej booth is part of the Junagad Lok Sabha constituency which will vote along with 25 seats in Gujarat in a single phase on April 23.
"This booth at Banej is India's only booth with one voter. As per our records, Bharatdas Bapu voted in all the assembly and Lok Sabha elections held since 2007. Just like past elections, we will set up a booth at Banej so that he can cast his vote. This booth has a distinction of registering 100 per cent voter turnout," said Prajapati with a sense of pride.
The booth, having an EVM machine, will be set up at the forest department building nearby.
Poll officials are expected to reach at the spot on April 22, a day before the polling.
"We will send a team of three election officials, including a presiding officer. A police constable will also accompany them. As per the guidelines of the Election Commission, no voter should travel more than two kms from his residence to reach a polling booth. This is the reason why we travel inside the forest to enable the lone voter to cast his vote. For us, every vote counts," said Prajapati.
Unerlining the difficulties they encounter, the officer says in the absence of mobile network inside the forest, they have to rely upon wireless network used by forest officials, to remain in touch with the main office.
Bapu would cast his vote on the polling day morning, but the officials would not leave the booth till 6 pm as the Election Commission guidelines, despite knowing well that there is no second voter in Banej.
Bapu told reporters that he felt honored when a team of poll officials come to his place to ensure that he can exercise his right to vote.
"I have been living here since 2002. I always participated in elections and cast my vote without fail. I feel honoured when election team sets a booth just for me. It shows that every vote is valuable. Just like this booth, every booth must register 100 per cent voter turnout," says Bapu, who lives alone in the company of some peacocks and visiting deer.
The sense of duty and commitment by poll officials is perhaps the reason that the biggest democratic exercise always marvel the world.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
