Price of single vote: Akshaya’s 300-minute struggle with 15 stitches and defiant official

THRISSUR: "Madam, I have fifteen stitches on my index finger. The wound hasn't healed, and I cannot untie the bandage. Please, let me cast my vote by applying the ink to another finger," Akshaya pleaded.

Despite her request and the presence of her four-year-old daughter, Rithvi, the Presiding Officer remained unmoved. "Do you want to vote? Then you must untie the wound," Officer G. Manju insisted. Even when Akshaya presented a formal medical certificate, the officer refused to budge.

Akshaya Santosh, 27, faced this grueling ordeal yesterday at the Bodhananda School polling booth in Koorkenchery, Thrissur. Having sustained a severe injury from a mixer grinder just three days prior, she arrived at the booth at 1:00 PM. The standoff escalated quickly as her father, Santosh, rushed home to retrieve a medical certificate, yet the officer remained defiant. Even when former Minister V.S. Sunilkumar arrived and entered into a heated argument over the lack of flexibility, the situation remained at a standstill.

The pressure continued to mount as the Returning Officer and the ADM both attempted to convince the Presiding Officer to show leniency. Eventually, District Collector Shikha Surendran intervened via a phone call, explicitly directing that Akshaya be allowed to vote, but even this high-level instruction was ignored.

It ultimately took the direct intervention of the Chief Electoral Officer, Ratan Khelkar, to break the deadlock. Under his special order, Akshaya was finally permitted to cast her vote at 6:05 PM, with the indelible ink applied to her knuckle instead of her injured finger. After five hours of physical pain and mental exhaustion, Akshaya successfully exercised her democratic right, proving that persistence can overcome even the most rigid bureaucracy.