The sub-divisional magistrate office at Reodar, which also serves as the office of the returning officer (the election commission appoints a district official, usually the SDM as the returning officer), is buzzing with activity since morning. The reason is simple: today (November 12) is the last day for filing nominations for the assembly elections taking place on December 1.

One of the rooms of the building has been converted into an election cell – the war room from where all the nitty-gritty of the elections will be monitored. Chandra Singh, headmaster of a senior secondary school and a veteran of elections – he is deputed to the returning officer’s office every elections for his knowledge of election rules – is busy arranging the forms that candidates need to fill up to file their nomination.

Sipping a cup of tea, Singh, on request, explains what these forms are. It includes an affidavit from the candidate declaring his/her assets, an oath affirmation (declaring his allegiance to the Indian constitution), caste certificate (if it’s a reserved seat) and a nomination letter from the party he/she is representing in the polls.

Along with these documents, the candidates also have to deposit Rs 10,000 as security deposit (Rs 5,000 for SC/ST candidates). “In case the candidate is an outsider (from other constituency), he/she needs to present the electoral roll with his name from his constituency,” Singh says, taking the last sip of his tea.

Thanking Singh I move to the returning officer’s office where his staff is making arrangements for “saab” to take the centre stage. The returning officer, Mohan Lal Khatanwalia, who is also the SDM of Reodar, suggests that his courtroom will be better suited to the job at hand. The nomination process will require a bigger space, explains a n office staffer, Murali. “First, along with the returning officer, four other officials will sit to accept the nomination documents from the candidates. And then the candidates will be accompanied by his supporters. So saab’s office will be too small,” he says.

The courtroom – a hall, very much like a district courtroom – with a raised platform on which the returning officer along with other official will sit and a huge space in front is certainly better suited for the nomination process.

The first to arrive is the sitting MLA and the BJP’s candidate from Reodar this time around – Jagasi Ram Koli. He is accompanied by three or four supporters. I am surprised by the ordinariness of Jagasi’s arrival. “Where is the band-baaja and the hoopla associated with the filing of nominations?” I ask one of the returning officer’s staffers. “Oh, he filed his nomination papers three days ago,” I am told. “Today he is here to make some corrections in it. You missed the celebrations accompanying his procession that was half a kilometer long.”

“But don’t worry,” I am told, in a consoling tone, “the Congress candidate is about to arrive to file his nomination and trust me, his procession will be bigger and grander.”

I move out of the building to enquire about Congress candidate Lakma Ram Koli’s arrival.

Congress candidate comes calling – to file his nomination
In the corridor I meet Lakma Ram Garasia, the sarpanch of Chandela panchayat and a supporter of his namesake, the Congress nominee. I know Lakma Ram from my earlier visits to Abu Road. “So what’s the news on Lakma Ram Koli, your leader?” I ask Garasia. “His rally has started and will reach in another hour,” he replies.

I rush out to my motorbike to meet the procession in between – before it reaches the returning officer’s office. I wanted to witness the jamboree myself. About half a kilometre from the office, hearing loud bangs of crackers along with the noise of dhol, I park my bike by the road and climb up the first floor of a shop to take a clear view of the approaching rally.

It is huge. More than 3,000 people, which makes the rally almost a kilometre-long walk towards the SDM office. At the centre of the procession on the shoulder of a young man sits the Congress candidate. Clad in a white shirt and trousers, a colourful turban on his head and garlands around his neck, Lakma Ram sits with hands folded and raised. Around him are four men pounding dhols hung around their neck. The procession is led by sitting MLA and Congress candidate this time of adjoining Abu-Pindwara constituency Gangaben Garasia.

With folded hands, she meets people lined up on both sides of the road and seek their blessings for Lakma Ram. Some distance ahead a party worker bursts crackers as the procession moves ahead. The traffic on the road, the main road passing through Reodar, had come to a standstill long back.

“His rally is much larger than that of Jagasi Ram, the BJP candidate, one of the onlookers standing beside me told another. “He has a larger gathering because this is the first time that the Congress party has given ticket to a resident of Reodar,” Brijmohan Sharma, of Society for All Round Development, an NGO in Reodar, explains.

Meanwhile, back at the SDM officer deputy superintendent of police Bhanwar Singh, an affable elderly gentleman with a protruding belly, orders his men to close the main gate. “Do not allow more than five persons apart from the candidate to enter the building,” he shouts. His order is promptly followed and four constables stand guard at the gate. The procession reaches the gate in another 15 minutes and the candidate gets off the young man’s shoulders amid loud slogan-shouting by supporters.

Even as Lakma Ram Koli gets set to enter the building, Bhairon Lal Bhati, president of the Reodar block Congress committee, runs inside the building with a file in his hand. “The nomination file has to be submitted at the auspicious time decided by the pandit – 12.30 pm sharp,” he tells me as he runs past with only five minutes left for the divine period to end. This is routine for every candidate, I am told. Back at the gate, Lakma Ram seeks blessings of the pandit, who smears a tilak on his forehead and asks him to step inside the gate. As Lakma Ram tries to walk inside, a commotion arises, with hundreds of supporters jostling and pushing to enter the premises beside their leader, only to be thwarted by the constables. As instructed, they allow five supporters inside, one of whom spreads a bedsheet on the floor for his leader to step his foot on.

The candidate enters the building on the bed sheet-carpet laid out for him!

Nomination filed
Inside the courtroom, the returning officer and his staff pore over the documents submitted by the candidate. Post-scrutiny, Lakma Ram’s documents are handed over to the returning officer for his signature. After signing it, he asks the candidate to read out the oath that has to be taken owing allegiance to the Indian constitution. Lakma Ram reads out aloud.

In about half an hour Lakma Ram’s nomination is filed, followed by another round of sloganeering by his supporters, one of whom carries him on his shoulders back out of the building where the huge crowed was waiting patiently for him. As he shows up at the gate, the pounding of the dhol began and the procession disperses, shouting “Lakma Ram zindabad”.

“The main players have filed their nominations. What next?” I ask Brijmohan. “Now you will find a stream of independent candidates (who will come to file their nomination),” Brijmohan replies. “Among them will be some who aspired for a ticket from the major parties and were denied, and some who want to make a start to their political career.”

One independent candidate who everyone knew would file his nomination for sure is the former SDM of Reodar, Mithu Singh Nayak. He sought voluntary retirement from service on grounds of contesting elections and the buzz is he did so to escape a number of departmental inquiries against him.

Nayak walks in with four supporters and without any fanfare. “I have been the SDM and served the people with all sincerity for long, so I am hopeful that I will be able to make some impact in this election,” he says when I ask him the motivation behind his decision to contest the elections.

After Nayak, other independent candidates file their nominations. One of them, Jitendra Parihar from Abu Road, who calls himself a social activist, is running for the assembly polls for the second consecutive time. “I have worked among the people for many years and I know they love me. Moreover, both the big parties have done nothing for the people of this constituency, but I want to make a difference in the lives of the people in case I win the seat,” Parihar says while leaving after filing his nomination.

Gauri Devi, another independent candidate, is the only woman candidate in the seat. Associated with an NGO that worked for women’s right Gauri says she wants to make her presence felt in the constituency.” It is important for women to come forward and fight elections, even if she loses,” she says, depositing a sum of Rs 5,000 as security deposit.

By 3pm, the deadline for filing of nominations, another two independent candidates had submitted their papers. At sharp 3 pm, Bhanwar Singh, the deputy SP, orders the gates to be closed.

“In the next two days the returning officer along with his staff will scrutinize the papers and November 16 would be the last date for candidates who want to withdraw their candidature,” Brijmohan tells me.

With the main gate shut, I drive past the side-gate hunting for a restaurant in the town. With no food since morning it was time I had some late afternoon snacks.