Meghalaya struck a unique note by holding a ‘green’ presidential election, while also highlighting some of the cultural aspects of the state.
The eco-friendly election today saw no single-use plastic at the venue, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Roy Kharkongor said.
He said that since this is an election to choose the highest constitutional post, it was decided to showcase the organic heritage of Meghalaya, embellished with arts and crafts, flora and fauna.
Along with this, they had various messages inside the polling station, encouraging the need to ‘Go Green’.
“With this end in mind, we’ve had the polling station set up with very eco-friendly material. It has the ‘knup’, which is a rain shield of the Khasis, and we’ve used that to showcase the rich culture and rich diversity of the tribal handicrafts in our state and also reflecting the tribal ethos,” Kharkongor said.
Along the corridors the showcase of democracy was seen where through the ages in Meghalaya right from the first general elections that the state had, pictures were in black and white, and right down to various pictures of polling officials, braving the various challenges of hardships, difficult territory, to the living room bridges to the rivers and also addressing people with disability, women voters, first time voters.
Asked about the idea behind the inked finger a symbol of Electoral Democracy, Kharkongor explained that when they went to Delhi for the review meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner, they were encouraged to make this presidential election something that amplifies the uniqueness about one’s culture and also that promotes the political heritage as well as the cultural heritage of the state.
Kharkongor said that after a brainstorming session with arts and crafts groups, they came up with a master plan of having a cleaner, of having this eco-friendly election.
