Karnataka: Night out at check post with tired poll officials

RAICHUR: Election duty official Singh glances at his watch and heaves a sigh of relief, he can finally get some sleep after 2 days. This is an account of his and his colleague’s punishing 48 hours, when they worked odd hours in an unfamiliar place, warding off threats and ‘promises’.

On April 12, Singh is exhausted as he wraps up his work at Agriculture Produce Marketing Corporation (APMC) in Ballari. APMC has a shortage of staff and Singh has had to handle the work of eight people. He leaves the town at around 11pm to reach Raichur, where he has been posted for election duty at a check post near Agriculture University, Raichur.

His shift at the check post begins at 2 pm and ends at 10 pm. On his first day, April 13, he scrutinises over 600 vehicles with the help of police constables and CISF jawans.

In the makeshift check post, two Income-Tax officials are interrogating a businessman who is carrying `30 lakh cash in his car without proper documents. Singh stopped him at around 5.30pm. The returning officer has been informed, who in turn informed the  I-T sleuths. The I-T officials verify the documents and this goes on till 10am.

Meanwhile, Singh and other officials are being ‘persuaded’ to be more ‘lenient’ by the businessman’s aides. But the upright official Singh tells them off.

As clock ticks 10, Singh bids adieu and hands over charge to another official Dodda Basava.

Drunk drivers with big friends

Dodda Basava’s shift starts at 10 pm and goes on till morning. While Dodda Basava is chit-chatting with other colleagues, the businessman’s driver interrupts, asking if he could leave. Basava  curtly asks him wait.

Meanwhile, the I-T officials, who had sent the documents to Hubballi to verify the businessman’s claims, receive a clearance report from there. They let the businessman go on the condition that he provides them with necessary documents next morning.

Clock strikes 12 and the frequency of drunk drivers drastically increase. One of them objects when a constable closes the door a little sharply. The driver, on top of his voice, shouts: “I am from an influential community. How dare you close the car door on me like that?” Basava, who is listening in, retorts: “I too am from same community. Do you want to have this conversation?”

The driver is quick to mention that he knows politicians in Raichur to which Basava says he too knows many. Sensing trouble, the CISF guards rush in with rifles, and the driver scoots. At 1.30am, fruit and milk vendors crossing the check post offer fruits and buttermilk to the officials, and they gladly accept.

Around 3am, the vehicular movement has thinned and the area is eerily silent. CSIF guards and constables share humorous stories from their night shifts. As they all get comfortable in their seats, the day breaks and vehicular movement swells up once more.