Gayaji: For the first time in two decades, residents of Herhanj, Kelwadeeh and Pathra in Gaya district cast their ballots at polling stations inside their own village — an event locals described as nothing short of a festival. Voters greeted polling personnel with garlands and shawls at the Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya Pathra-1, where booths were set up for the 2025 Bihar assembly elections.
The area, located around 30 km from Imamganj block headquarters and surrounded on three sides by hill streams, has long struggled with accessibility and security. Since 2005, election booths were shifted 12 km away to Salaiya Middle School, leaving only a handful of voters able to participate. Many residents recall that “barely two to three dozen people” managed to vote in past elections.
This time, the mood was entirely different.
From 7am, voters began arriving in large numbers, describing the moment as “the return of democracy to our doorstep”.
A full turnout expected
The three villages together have 1,350 registered voters — men and women — nearly all of whom were expected to vote now that the polling station is within walking distance. New brides and first-time voters were especially enthusiastic, women associated with the Jeevika network told local reporters.
Locals including Aslam Shah, Chhotu Shah, Rajesh Paswan, Anil Paswan, Upendra Prasad, Devanandan Saw, and Tabish Hasan said the return of the booth had doubled the excitement for voting. “This time everyone in the village will participate,” a resident said.
Both NDA and Mahagathbandhan’s women candidates had visited the area a week earlier to seek votes — a rarity in previous years due to the difficult terrain.
Once Naxal-hit, now peaceful
Residents noted that the villages fall closer to Jharkhand’s Manatu police station area in Palamu, just half a kilometre away, than to their own Bihar block and thana, which lie far off.
Earlier, this distance made the region a severely Naxal-affected zone, but sustained operations by the Centre and the state have led to significant improvement in security.
Booths 202 and 203: A new political identity
According to the Imamganj election office, Booth 202 and Booth 203 have been created at the school in Pathra-1:
Booth 202: 365 men, 337 women
Booth 203: 344 men, 304 women
The combined population of the three villages is around 3,500, most belonging to the Manjhi community.
Salaiya Panchayat representative Santan Paswan said the reinstated polling booths have given the villages “a new political identity” after 20 years.
