By Amarnath Tewary in Nalanda, Bihar

They tried to prevent me using all sorts of pressure but I just ran out to the booth and cast my ballot

Tinish Kumar Although the Indian government roped in famous Bollywood stars to appeal to the electorate to exercise their right to vote, the experience of one young voter in the eastern state of Bihar suggests the icons of the silver screen still have some work to do. The man was first threatened, then ostracised and finally fined when he mustered the courage to cast his ballot. It happened soon after villagers of Dharhara - in the Nalanda constituency - suddenly announced a poll boycott in protest over the lack of development in their village. As a result, none of the 900 or so voters in Dharhara turned up to cast ballots in the village's primary school building. 'Under pressure' Tinish Kumar, 26, defied the ban. The row in Dharhara is over village development (All pics: Prashant Ravi) At the end of the day he was counted as the lone voter in his village, even though protesting villagers gathered near the polling booth and tried physically to force him from doing so. "They tried to prevent me using all sorts of pressure but I just ran out to the booth and cast my ballot," an unfazed Mr Kumar told the BBC. "I wanted to vote because of the development our chief minister, Nitish Kumar, has done in the state, even if it has not come to our village yet." Tinish is currently studying a business course by correspondence. He drove his motorbike for three hours from the state capital, Patna, to reach his village to vote on 7 May. His mother, Usha Sinha, is a member of the village committee and his father, Kaushal Kumar, is an agriculturist. They did not cast votes "under pressure from villagers". My son has not committed a crime. I feel proud of him for daring to cast his vote

Usha Sinha

Crime and caste in Bihar politics "A group of them invaded our house in the evening and abused us and threatened us with dire consequences for our son if he dared cast his vote," Usha Sinha said. She told the villagers that her son had done nothing wrong. Fearful of a backlash, she telephoned local legislator Sharvan Kumar and the police for help - but it did not come. Ms Sinha said: "I'll go and try to meet the Bihar chief minister at his weekly people's court and tell him about what has happened on his own home turf. "Casting a vote is an individual right and exercising it is everybody's prerogative." Soon after the first incident of intimidation, a man appeared beating a drum. He called on the villagers to attend an urgent meeting in the village. Most went, but Tinish Kumar and his family wisely avoided it. "Later we heard that they have decided to ostracise us from our caste community and imposed a fine of 15,000 rupees ($301) as a penalty but no-one has ever approached us for this cash," said Tinish's father, Kaushal Kumar. Village head Uma Kant Sinha did not vote - along with her husband Vijay Paswan - and left the village on polling day "to avoid an unnecessary confrontation with the villagers". "But what Tinish Kumar has done by casting his vote is amazing. We all should vote and we'll do it next time," Uma Kant Sinha told the BBC. Retired professor of maths Kumar Awadhendra Narayan - a neighbour of Tinish Kumar in the village - also supported what Tinish Kumar had done. Tinish Kumar and his family say that an important principle is at stake However, the villagers who boycotted the poll stood by their action. "The boycott call was taken not for individual benefit but for the development of the village as a whole. You can see yourself the village has no drainage system, no road, no electricity and no primary health centre," said Vinod Kumar. Villager Mohammed Mahtab and Mohammed Mustaq nodded in agreement. Usha Sinha remains unruffled. "Why should I fear and succumb to their social pressure? My son has not committed a crime. I feel proud of him for daring to cast his vote," said Usha Sinha. But Tinish Kumar's stand for democracy was not replicated by all in Bihar. In Nalanda, the turnout was an abysmally low 39%.



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