A visit to the Andhra Loyola College and Bishop Grassi High School at Gunadala brought back childhood memories for State Election Commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar on Wednesday.
The SEC visited many polling stations set up at schools and colleges in Vijayawada city to monitor and assess the polling patterns. He was overcome by nostalgia as he recollected his student days after entering the campus of Loyola College.
Taking a trip down memory lane, he enquired with Principal Fr. P. Kishore about the well-being of the former principals of the institution, which he said was known for inculcating discipline and ethics in students and grooming them into well-rounded personalities.
Gazing at the photograph of the founder of the college on the wall, Mr. Ramesh Kumar shared with Krishna Collector A. Md. Imtiaz and the official team that accompanied him a few incidents of his student life at this college back in 1960, and showed them the buildings that existed even during his student days.
At the sprawling campus of the Bishop Grassi High School, Gunadala, the SEC narrated with great enthusiasm to the Collector and City Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu how, as a school kid, he loved to play here with his friends.
He said climbing up the Gunadala hill to the point where the statue of Mary Matha stands was a great adventure for him and his friends. Responding to a suggestion by the Collector and the Commissioner on making another trip to this place at a later date to refresh old memories, Mr. Ramesh Kumar smiled and said that though his passion was intact, he lacked the physical strength to do so.
‘Tender’ votes
At the polling booth set up on the CVR school campus, a voter Rama Rao approached the SEC with a complaint that he had been residing in the locality for the past many years but his and his wife’s names were missing from the voters’ list.
At Loyola College, 70-year-old T. Premavathi brought to Mr. Ramesh Kumar’s notice a similar issue.
The SEC invoked Section 49P of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, which says that if a genuine voter, who is able to answer the presiding officer’s questions about his/her identity satisfactorily, should be allowed to cast a ‘tender’ vote. Mr. Ramesh Kumar directed officials to allow them to opt for tendered votes that are cast on ballot papers and sealed and locked away.
