It Was His First Vote. So He Rode A Buffalo To Polling Station

Ujiarpur, Bihar:

In Bihar’s Ujiarpur, people on the streets witnessed a peculiar sight: a young voter, on top of a buffalo, arrived at a polling booth to vote for the very first time.

“I came to vote for the first time and I am very excited,” the man said. “I hope that whoever wins eradicates poverty in our village, gives jobs to the young people and addresses inflation.”

Video of the incident shows the young voter, clad in a black shirt, grey trousers and a green cloth wrapped around his head like a turban, arriving at a polling station on top of a buffalo who is sporting a similar headgear. Bystanders, including children, looked in awe while some clicked pictures as the man and his bovine friend straddled across a road. 

#Watch: It Was His First Vote. So He Rode A Buffalo To Polling Station#ElectionsWithNDTV#Biharpic.twitter.com/w482IhHQpi

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 13, 2024

The Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar’s Samastipur district, with 17.48 lakh voters, has 13 candidates vying for the mandate. At the forefront of this political fight stands Union Minister Nityanand Rai, seeking a remarkable third consecutive term from the seat. Mr Rai’s candidacy is contested by Alok Mehta, a seasoned RJD leader and former state minister.

In the Samastipur constituency, formerly known as Rosera, two political veterans, Congress’ Sunny Hazari and LJP’s Shambhavi Choudhary, face a close contest. Both come from rich political backgrounds, being the children of senior JD(U) leaders and ministers within Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.

Sunny Hazari, son of Maheshwar Hazari, clinched victory on a JD(U) ticket in 2009. Shambhavi Choudhary, daughter of Ashok Choudhary, a prominent minister in the Nitish Kumar administration, aims to carve her own political path.