A royal tribute to spirit of political inclusiveness
ALAPPUZHA: It has been common practice, in the recent past, for government-owned buildings and educational institutions to be used as polling stations. However, a specially designated polling station for leprosy patients at the Leprosy Sanatorium in Nooranad holds a unique place in the states electoral history. The building, constructed in 1934 by the maharaja of Travancore, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, continues to serve as the polling station for the sanatoriums inmates. According to Muthukrishnan, a 74-year-old inmate who has lived in the sanatorium for over 50 years, the facility was specifically built by the king to ensure the voting rights of patients. Over 2,400 inmates lived here during the early decades. The sanatorium was established by Balarama Varma at a time when the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha (SMPS) functioned as the elected legislative body of Travancore. Sree Moolam Thirunal, who ruled from 1885 to 1924, established the Travancore Legislative Council, the first of its kind in any princely state in the country. Later, it was reorganised as SMPS, he said. The king constructed the polling station along with the sanatorium on the 155-acre premises. Inmates got to use the polling station for the first time in 1937. After Independence and the reorganisation of princely states, the building continued to serve as a polling station. The institution was also known as a stronghold of communist activities, with leaders such as Thoppil Bhasi using it as a hideout. Prominent political leaders, including E M S Namboodiripad, C Achutha Menon, K R Gouri, and K Karunakaran, and many others have visited the sanatorium for election campaigning, Muthukrishnan recounts. Today, the polling station has 55 registered voters, most of them inmates. A few are former patients who continue to live nearby. Over the years, the campus shrunk to less than 100 acres, and the number of inmates dropped to 80. However, its historic polling station remains a testament to an era when voting rights were extended with a spirit of inclusiveness, rarely seen in princely India.
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