NEW DELHI, November 25: Ram Sharan is not a believer in the `one man one vote' dictum. While Sonia Gandhi was at Nirman Bhavan to cast her vote in the Gole Market constituency at 9 a.m. today, he was outside smoking a beedi.All the noise about casting just one vote does not impress him. ``Before the day is through I would have voted at least 10 times,'' he says brazenly.
He sports a beard, specially `grown for voting'. ``This way I can be a sardar by wearing a pagadi (turban), or a Muslim by wearing a cap, or plain simple me,'' he says, going in to vote for the second time at polling booth number 82, where a few moments ago Sonia cast her vote.
``Now I will go to Pandara Road to vote. I might also go to Lodhi Colony, but I have not yet made up my mind,'' he says.
Coming out and erasing the indelible ink with the chemical in his pocket, he says: ``I am a painter, presently working at Pragati Maidan. I began doing this 20 years ago when Atal Behari Vajpayee won from New Delhi''.
He moves with a group of 200 such `impersonators', who take rounds of the constituency, tipping the balance of votes. ``Elections are like a festival. Eat well, drink well, don't ask what we drink. Then just vote a little. I don't mind,'' he says.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.