Among the enthusiastic voters is Bhakta, a Thimphu-based tour guide. “Voting this time is a must and a sacred duty as per the wish of His Majesty. We will have to make the electoral process a success,” he said before leaving for his village in Geluphu — at least a day’s trek away, through mountains.

Chief Election Commissioner Dasho Kunzang Wangdi is optimistic too. Though the turnout for the National Council (upper house) election held in December 2007 was a poor 53 per cent, Wangdi expects more than 70 per cent to vote tomorrow. “Utmost importance is being attached to tomorrow’s polls. The National Assembly is very crucial in the path to transition,” he says.

At the same time, there is fear and anxiety. Wangdi is apprehensive about the Southern Bhutan district, facing twin threats from Indian underground organisations like the ULFA and the Maoists in Nepal sheltered in Jhapa refugee camps.

The underground outfits might try to “avenge” their ouster from Bhutan jungles in the Operation Flushout in 2003, while Nepal Maoists have been repeatedly threatening of disrupting the electoral process.

Says an indignant Wangdi: “They are demanding that the ‘sham’ election in Bhutan be scrapped. Not one person has been disenfranchised. All bona fide citizens of Bhutan have been enlisted in the voters’ list through a rigorous process of verification. If the people in Jhapa camps were Bhutanese, they should have been in Bhutan now.”

The Nepalese issue, in fact, remains touchy. The PDP candidate from Gelephu, Garab Dorji, was disqualified as he allegedly used a government policy document to influence a large number of Bhutanese voters of Nepalese origin in his constituency.

... contd.