Abundance and apathy: A tale of 2 booths

A village that votes like no other..

- Paras Singh

Just beyond the Yamuna, where Delhi meets Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, lies Akbarpur Majra - a village that feels like it belongs to another era. The morning air carries the scent of mustard blossoms, the roads wind through yellow fields, and the only sounds breaking the morning silence are the distant hum of tractors and the chatter of elders gathered at the chaupal over hookah.

The place is reminiscent of how Hindi cinema imagines an idyllic rural setting - but this is modern-day Delhi. And a part of it that votes with an enthusiasm, setting an example for the more urbanised sections of the city. In the previous Delhi assembly elections in 2020, this village on the city's outskirts recorded an 87.37% voter turnout - over 24 percentage points higher than the citywide average. And as elections approach, the village is preparing to do it again. Locals say a sense of close-knit community, familial relationships, internal rivalries, and a sense of pride, drive the high turnouts in this area located under Narela assembly constituency.

At the centre of the excitement is the village's polling booth, located inside the primary municipal school. Over the past few days, officials have been busy installing CCTV cameras and checking electronic voting machines at Booth #248 - the city's most polled booth. But the real force behind the high voter turnout isn't infrastructure, it's the people themselves. Here, out of the 657 registered voters, 574 showed up to vote. "Everyone knows every other family here. Voting is not just a right, it's an obligation.

The old tradition of elders deciding how the family votes may have faded, but the idea that not voting is unacceptable remains as strong as ever," said Ranbir Singh, 82, a village elder wrapped tightly in a brown woollen shawl.

The enthusiasm in Akbarpur Majra isn't new.