Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar had to spend a night in an abandoned mountain village in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, close to the China border, after poor weather forced his helicopter to land there on Wednesday.
Kumar told The Telegraph the overnight stay, with almost no nourishment or mobile signal, had left him full of admiration for the polling parties who climb up to such remote places during summer elections, and steeped in awe that one feels when left to the mercy of nature.
The trekking enthusiast told this newspaper on Thursday after returning to Delhi that he hadn’t experienced “such an adventure” before.
“We were trapped in a valley with clouds on all sides at around 15,000 feet. There was no way to cross the valley through those peaks without visibility,” he said.
“The pilot made the decision in five minutes and we landed in Ralam. He remembered that there was a small patch to land there as he had evacuated an elderly patient from this village 20 days ago…. We landed at 12.30pm (on Wednesday).”
Kumar said he had been on a routine visit to the Milam Valley to meet local authorities and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police who help conduct elections in the region.
“I had some time in hand before the Maharashtra polls, so I thought why not come here?” he said.
When the helicopter landed in Ralam, the village was deserted. Villagers living in the upper reaches of the Himalayas migrate to lower altitudes as winter approaches.
The CEC, his Central Reserve Police Force guard, Uttarakhand’s additional chief electoral officer Vijay Jogdande, and the two pilots managed to enter a hut where they remained till dawn on Thursday.
“The security officer had a satellite phone through which he gave our coordinates to the ITBP, soon after which the battery discharged (died), as it happens at high altitudes…. At around 4pm it began raining and snowing,” Kumar said.
“Ralam is the last village before the border. It is not far from the Nanda Devi base camp, which is in the adjacent Milam Valley. Ralam had trade links with China 600 to 700 years ago.”
He added: “Between us, we had some chocolate and a packet of namkeen.”
Possibly alerted by worried authorities, the villagers who had shifted downhill for the winter came to their aid.
“Villagers climbed up and brought us tea at 1.30am (Thursday). The ITBP came through the rain and snow at 5.30am,” Kumar said.
The helicopter was able to take off after the weather stabilised. The Election Commission team reached Munsiyari, 35km from Ralam, on Thursday morning.
Asked about the lessons learnt, Kumar replied: “We have to have deferential treatment and special facilities for our personnel who trek high up with EVMs on their back…. I learnt not to panic in adverse situations. This applies to high-stress jobs like being the CEC.”
