Voters wait in queue at a polling booth in Tripura.
At 6.30am, the booth in Hawai Bari high school, 40 kms from Agartala, looks crowded. We spot 93-year-old Priyabala Das,who had been patiently waiting to cast her vote.
The booth perfectly reflects Tripura's tradition of a high voter turnout during elections. In the first phase, on April 7 this year, Tripura polled 86.1 per cent. And today was no different, as by 6pm, it had predictably polled 81.8 per cent. Last year, in the assembly elections, Tripura recorded 93 per cent of voting.
The reason behind these high figures becomes clear to us as we move into the interiors through the Atharamura hill tract, once affected by militancy.
As we drive through a narrow and freshly tarred road, we see a steady stream of red CPIM flags, occasionally challenged by Trinamool's green and orange hue.
The area around the Atharamura hill tract was once the epicenter of militant activity. The forest provided the perfect cover for the underground militants. But today, it is a different scene.
We meet a group of tired women who are returning on foot after casting their vote. "We are very thirsty and didn't get any transport," says one of the ladies.
At another spot, the sight of a public transport causes a minor commotion among voters who have been patiently waiting for over an hour to return.
By 12:30 in the afternoon, after 15 minutes of trekking, we reach the Noonachera polling booth. The heavy presence of security personnel with automatic weapons remind us that once underground militants were active in this area.
But today the scene is of perfect discipline. By 1 pm, 275 out of 445 voters have already voted. That's nearly 62 per cent and voting would be on for the next four hours.
I ask a voter, waiting in the queue but reluctant to give out his name, why did he take such hardships to come here? "It's my responsibility to vote," he says. Another is more forthright. "The government is building roads for us and we want the work to continue."
It is clear that it's only when you travel to remote areas that you realize what an effort it takes to conduct the world's largest democratic exercise and be a part of it.