Polling agents hired from far away Poonch had a unique experience on Wednesday when they found it hard to kill time as no one turned out to vote at a booth in Karanagar during the second phase of municipal elections.
The two youngsters from Poonch had been hired by a Congress party candidate as polling agents for the booth established in a private school.
The Congress candidate was the only one who had polling agents at this booth where not a single vote was cast by the end of polling time.
No candidate was seen around the booth either.
The polling staff were gossiping while alert security forces kept guard outside the booth.
“We are sitting idle here. Not a single voter has turned up since morning. We had thought that we will not even get a chance to go for lunch due to rush of voters. It is all different here,” said Tasleem Ahmad, a polling agent from Poonch.
Ahmad acknowledged he was a “paid polling agent of Congress candidate.”
“Hiring two polling agents for one booth gave us the impression that work load would be too high. We had breakfast early morning and attended the booth in wee hours,” he said.
As the time passed, both the hired polling agents started killing time by reading voter slips and taking strolls in the sun outside with members of the equally bored polling staff.
The polling agents did not reveal how much money they would be paid but said their transport, boarding and lodging was already taken care of.
“All our expenses have been paid already including our boarding and lodging. So, there is no question that we will be paid lesser than our expectations now,” one of them said.
On seeing this reporter, the agents first thought it was a voter and asked “why other voters are not turning up?”
The question was following by cryptic smile on realizing the presence of a journalist.
Similarly, one of the polling agents at SD Colony Batamaloo said he was also hired.
“Only few votes have been casted here. My candidate has also got one or two votes among them. I will be paid for sitting idle here for the entire day,” he said, declined to be identified.