He flew in from Muscat just to vote

A single vote can make or break the prospects of a candidate in our electoral system of first past the post.

Syed Kotwal, who hails from the Kumbara Oni in the city and works as a project manager at a private company in the Omanese capital of Muscat, knows it best.

He has arrived in the city, specifically to vote in the City Municipal Council (CMC) elections. Kotwal is scheduled to fly back to Muscat, through Bangalore, after exercising his franchise on Thursday.  

Kotwal’s maternal uncle Mehboob Hussain Nalaband had won as a JD(S) nominee in the 2008 elections to the CMC from ward number 13, by just one vote. While Nalaband had secured 409 votes, his nearest rival - Ashok Bazarmath of the BJP - secured 408 votes. The election was challenged in the court, which upheld Nalaband’s victory. 

Kotwal, who had not voted in the polls then, realised the value of one vote, after his uncle’s  infamous win. His uncle is contesting as a BSR Congress candidate this time.

Two candidates had secured the highest number of votes in the 1997 polls to the CMC in the same ward, and the winner was decided through a coin toss.