The 'Dry Fruit' Democracy In Madhya Pradesh Where Kaju, Badam Are Voters

In most places, voters bring identity cards to polling booths. But in two polling stations of Agar Malwa district in Madhya Pradesh, voters bring an entire "mix assortment" of names. Don't be surprised if the electoral roll reads like a film poster, a dry-fruit packet, or a Madhya Pradesh tourism brochure.

Polling stations 93 and 94 in Agar Malwa and neighbouring villages have voters named Kaju (cashew), Badam (almond), Pista (pistachio), TV, Antenna, and even cities like Burhanpur and Sarangpur. And right next to them are familiar Bollywood hits, Soldier, Pardesi, Kranti, Desh Premi, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Jitendra, Dilip Kumar, Hema Malini.

If names could win elections, this constituency would be a blockbuster.

But behind the quirky list lies the story of the Pardhi community, which has been living a nomadic life for generations. With constant movement, parents often name their children after the most prominent thing around them sometimes the film playing at the nearest tent talkies, sometimes the city they were travelling through, and sometimes the snack they were eating.

"Madhuri Dixit, Jitendra Dixit, Pyaaz Bai, Sarangpur Bai, Hema Malini… at first these names felt strange, but now I have memorized them all," laughs booth level officer (BLO) Santosh Jaiswal, who has been on voter duty since 2006. "I've filled so many forms now that even Bollywood might hire me as their casting director."

Another BLO shares his daily dose of surprise: "There's Kaju Singh, Sunny Deol, Sherni Bai, Sher Khan… when I joined, I thought someone was joking. But now, these names are routine."

A local voter, Desh Premi, proudly explains his unique name. "My father watched a film the day I was born. He liked the hero, the story… so he named me Desh Premi. There are many in our community named after heroes and heroines Soldier, Rajkumar, Pardesi."

With the ongoing month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls that began on November 4, BLOs are digitizing the details of 5.74 crore electors across 230 assembly constituencies, assisted by a massive workforce of 65,014 BLOs. 
Yet, the process is smooth. The BLOs confirm that despite the eccentric names, documents match, identities are verified, and voter IDs are generated without issues.

In a democracy where names often echo caste, lineage, or gods, Agar Malwa's voter list stands out a place where Bollywood blockbusters, dry fruits, cities, and television antennas all queue up for the same ink mark on their finger.

Because in the world's largest democracy, what's in a name? As long as the vote counts.