SOMETIMES, out of a paragraph pops out a word, a name or a place name that takes your breath away. It informs you, humbles you and leads you down memory lane. For me, that moment came when I glanced through an extract from Chapter 7 of Ramachandra Guha’s India after Gandhi. The third paragraph on Page 144 begins thus: “The highest turnout, 80.5 per cent, was recorded in the parliamentary constituency of Kottayam, in present day Kerala; the lowest, 18.0, was in Shahdol in what is now Madhya Pradesh.” Guha was referring to the 1952 Lok Sabha elections, India’s first. And, to think that the highest voter turnout was in my hometown!

 

This issue of THE WEEK is a continuation of our strong election coverage in the past weeks, starting with a ground report from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, Varanasi, and an exclusive interview with Congress president Rahul Gandhi—his first to any publication after the elections were announced.

 

Speaking of exclusives, we have one in this issue, too. Senior Special Correspondent Namrata Biji Ahuja has interviewed businessman Mehul Choksi, the co-accused in Punjab National Bank scam. Choksi blames the banks and accuses them of dragging him into the mess. The interview comes at a time when a combined team of investigators is leaving for the UK to try and bring Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi back.

 

Coming back, this week’s cover story is a unique take on elections. We have replaced the usual text-based stories with graphics-based ones. Twenty pages of graphics covering all Lok Sabha elections from 1952 to 2014.

 

News Editor Lukose Mathew’s idea was transformed into a brilliant bouquet by THE WEEK’s desk. A team culled the data from books, government documents and websites. They then checked it. Re-checked it. And took it to the art team. My special thanks to the data crunchers: Anirudh Madhavan, Karthik Ravindranath, Nirmal Jovial, Reuben Joe Joseph and Susamma Kurian. And, to the visualisers: Sreemanikandan S., Syam Krishnan and Job P.K..

 

My first memories about the 1952 Lok Sabha elections are just flashes of S.K. Patil’s campaign in Mumbai South. He would hold that seat until 1967, when a seemingly casual firebrand pulled off a mighty upset. The real George Fernandes died a few years ago, but his frame clung on; we buried the giant-killer this January.

 

Ideally, my first Lok Sabha vote should have been cast in 1967. But, I was then in college, in Delhi. So, I finally cast it in 1977, in the election that followed the Emergency. And, I cannot forget that vote in a hurry.

 

I was in Goa for a family event when I developed breathlessness and allergic rashes. I was rushed back to Kochi, but refused to go home to Kottayam without voting. The wait in the queue under the hot sun caused my condition to worsen. By the time my turn came to vote, my fingers were so stiff that I could barely hold the rubber stamp. After voting, I went home to my worried parents. My mother had to cut my shirt off my back, because I could not move my arms. The condition was finally diagnosed as a medicine reaction.

 

Quite interestingly, I am at my parents’ home while writing this. Strange that I should be here during another Lok Sabha campaign. I spent the last night here, and I just have to close my eyes to see my father’s disapproving looks and my mother’s worried face.

 

Perhaps, it was stupid to stay back to vote in 1977. But, let me tell you, it was worth the pain!