In an extraordinary turn during the gram panchayat elections in Hamirpur development block, the fate of Tal gram panchayat was decided not by another round of counting but by sheer chance through the rarely-used “drop box vote” procedure. Candidates Rakesh Kumar and his rival were locked at 502 votes each even after repeated recounting failed to break the deadlock.
With no difference emerging, the Assistant Returning Officer invoked the drop box method. Chits bearing the names of both candidates were placed inside a covered box, and a person selected by officials drew one chit. The draw favoured Rakesh Kumar, who was subsequently declared the winner and will serve as gram panchayat Pradhan for the full term.
Several other panchayats in the block also witnessed nail-biting contests. Rekha Devi of Dashmal Panchayat secured victory by just three votes over Meera Devi, while Anu Kumari of Bherda gram panchayat defeated Chandresh Kumari by five votes. Seema Kumari won Parli gram panchayat by eight votes against Kusumlata. In Chiyori gram panchayat, Sunil defeated Vikas by 14 votes, while Rakesh Kumar won Khyah Lohakhriyan gram panchayat against Sanjay Kumar by the same margin. In Lahra gram panchayat, Rakesh defeated Sanjeev by 20 votes.
