SIACHEN GLACIER, India: Five people from one family in a remote Himalayan village voted in the Sunday’s phase in their own polling station after officials traveled seven hours and borrowed an electricity connection from the army to cast their ballots.
Officials picked up voting machines from Leh, the capital of the Himalayan federal territory of Ladakh, on Sunday and boarded a bus for the 180 km (110 miles) journey to Warshi – where the only voters were Rinchen, 23, her parents and grandparents.
It is located about 20 km from the Siachen Glacier, dubbed the world’s highest battlefield, where Indian and Pakistani troops clashed for four decades. Warshi is accessible by road but lacks amenities such as electricity, healthcare and internet.
Polling station officials turned to the military’s Border Roads Organization to get electricity when the generator they were carrying failed to work.
Rinchen, a first-time voter, hopes her vote will help change.
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“It’s a mixed feeling of excitement and responsibility. I would like to ask the incoming government to solve the problems we have here,” she said.
Her grandparents – Lozbang Sherab, 75, and Pustong Lamo, 85 – still found it difficult to get to the polling station, even though it was right next to their house.
Sherab carried his wife out of their home and down the stairs on her back before helping her into a wheelchair.
When Lamo emerged from casting her vote, she was met with applause from her family and polling staff.
The Lok Sabha elections have been underway since April 19, with polling ending on June 1 and counting scheduled for June 4. The fifth phase of voting took place on Sunday.
