Shoranur: Usha, a voter at Kulappully Upper Primary School in Palakkad district, could exercise her franchise after a long interval of eight years on Friday, thanks to a report in ‘Malayala Manorama’. When Usha arrived at her booth for the ongoing Lok Sabha election, she was carrying a copy of the newspaper, along with her voter’s ID card.
Usha’s travail began back in 2016, during the Assembly election in Kerala. The mark with indelible ink made on her left index finger after voting has persisted ever since. Even though her nails grew, the mark did not disappear from her finger. With the ink remaining on her finger, Usha could not vote in any of the elections that took place in the state since 2016, including the ones to the Parliament in 2019 and to the Assembly in 2021.
This time also, Usha had decided not to exercise her franchise. However, when Malayala Manorama reported on her plight along with a photo on April 25, the District Election Cell intervened in the matter. Election officials contacted Usha and asked her to carry the newspaper to the polling booth as proof that the ink on her left index finger was applied back in 2016.
When Usha reached the booth on Friday, the polling officer initially raised suspicion over the ink mark on her left index finger. But, when Usha showed the Malayala Manorama newspaper with the report, the officer was convinced. Moreover, the presiding officer of the booth, T S Divya, was aware of the issue and allowed Usha to vote. Even though Usha finally voted after eight years, the presiding officer declined her request to apply ink on another finger.