NONAGENARIAN Baburao Akhade was among 41 eligible voters from the remote hamlet Burudmal under Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra who for the first time didn’t have to trek 12 km to cast their votes, which was the case until 2019 elections. Voting was held for 11 of 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State in the third phase on Tuesday. This is the first time that officials established a polling station in a nearby school for eligible electors enabling us to take part in the festival of democracy- elections, in our hamlet. Located 35 km away from Bhor town in Velhe tehsil of Pune district, Burudmal is the smallest polling station with 41 eligible voters under the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency.

 

By 3 pm on Tuesday, 39 voters, including a first-timer, had exercised their franchise, registering a 95 pc turnout. “This has happened for the first time in our lifetime that a polling station has been set up near our houses here in Burudmal. Till the last elections, we all had to go on foot to Sangvi Velvade Khore (valley) to cast votes, which is almost 12 km from here,” said 90-year-old Akhade, the senior-most voter among the flock. But this time, a polling station was set up in a school, located just next to our houses, giving us much-required comfort in the scorching summer heat, he said.