BH-TWINS-VOTE

Patnas conjoined, treated as a single voter 3 yrs ago, now
have separate voting rights
Patna, May 18 (PTI) Two young women, residents of the
Bihar capital and joined at the head since birth, have earned
the right to be treated as separate individuals with
independent voting rights.
Sabah and Farah (23), the conjoined twins who live in
Samanpura locality of the city, would be casting their votes
on Sunday as per their respective choice unlike the 2015
assembly polls in the state when their names were inscribed on
a single voter ID card and their vote was, consequently,
treated as one.
The twins cannot be denied their individuality on account
of the way they are physically. They have different minds,
different opinions and choices. Therefore, this time they have
been issued separate voter ID cards and they will be allowed
to cast their votes by turns, District Magistrate, Patna,
Kumar Ravi told PTI Saturday.
He said the reason why they had been treated as a single
voter could have been that it has to be secret ballot and no
other individual is supposed to be present when one is casting
his or her vote. However, the twins are conjoined in such a
way that their heads are turned, always, in opposite
directions. So there should not be much of a problem.
Moreover, they were also made to attend the Systematic
Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) workshop
held recently. They have been told how to go about the
exercise. Poll officials of the assigned booth have been
directed to do the needful when they arrive, he said.
The Siamese twins are enrolled in the electoral roll for
Digha assembly segment under Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat which
goes to polls on May 19.
Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, contesting on Congress
ticket, is locked in a keen fight with Union Minister
Ravishankar Prasad in Patna Sahib seat.
Their touching story was recently shared by the Election
Commission of India on its official twitter handle with the
hashtag #Chunavkikahaniyan.
Born in a poor family, the girls were taken to the AIIMS
at New Delhi by their parents where attempts were made,
unsuccessfully, to separate them through surgical
intervention.
Taking note of their plight, the Supreme Court had
directed the state government to provide their family with a
monthly assistance of Rs 5,000 which was later raised to Rs
20,000 at the instance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The sisters are diehard fans of Bollywood actor Salman
Khan, whom they fondly call bhai (brother) and the star had,
learning about them, once arranged for their visit to Mumbai
where they met their favourite hero in person and tied a rakhi
on his wrist.
Reports had surfaced of their feeling devastated upon
Khans arrest in the hit and run case and on the day when he
was acquitted by the court the sisters had observed a fast and
kept praying for his release. PTI NAC
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