Kozhikode: Election duty is deemed stressful by polling officers and security personnel as they have to abide by stringent regulations for several hours before, during and even after the last vote is cast. While manning booths and regulating voters queuing up at polling booths, cops, army personnel and Home Guards on duty may not be in a mood to attend personally to voters. Radhakrishnan K, a Home Guard attached to the Vadakara traffic unit, is now in the limelight as a photo showing him holding baby of a woman voter went viral today.
Radhakrishnan and others on poll duty were also helping the elderly and the differently abled voters to cast their votes when he had to help a young mother and her baby. The woman was not accompanied by any friends or relatives when she came to cast her vote.
"She was carrying a baby, less than two months old. When she found it difficult to cast the vote holding the baby with one hand, she sought my help," Radhakrishnan said.
He lauded the woman's participation in the electoral process despite inconvenience.
“I was surprised to see the commitment of that young woman. She came alone with her newborn baby. I don't know the woman or her name. I don't know if that baby was a boy or a girl. When that woman asked me if I could hold the baby for a while, so that she can cast the vote hassle-free, I wholeheartedly accepted it,” Radhakrishnan added.
Radhakrishnan did not even know he was snapped holding the child at the polling station and the image circulated widely.
“Some people from police department called me to congratulate. Many thought, it was my child or a grandchild or a relative's baby. We have been helping many people here, who needed support to cast the vote, this is our duty,” Radhakrishnan added.
The photo was taken at the polling booth set up at the Upper Primary School at Valliyad in Kozhikode district of Kerala on Tuesday. Valliyad is part of the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.
Radhakrishnan opted for postal ballot, whereas his family members could directly cast their vote at Chengottukavu, near Koyilandy, also in Vadakara constituency. He joined as a Home Guard in Koyilandy traffic cell after 24 years of service in the Indian Army. From Koyilandy, he was shifted to the traffic unit in Vadakara.
The Indian Home Guard is a voluntary force and its personnel aid police.
