How Bihar stayed true to its claim of being the world's oldest democracy

This cartoon is my tribute to the people of Bihar. They have taught the country a lesson in democracy. Though the election period was dotted with festivals, holidays and a communally-charged atmosphere, the Biharis - especially the women - showed up in great numbers at the poll booths and inked one finger at a time, in a symbolic gesture to defeat the rabble-rousers.

Biharis stayed true to their claim of being the oldest democracy in the world, and shunned their image of a booth-capturing election state. If the Licchavis elected their leader in 6th century BC, then Begusarai entered the annals of recording the first instance of booth capturing during an election in 1957. Not a single untoward incident, including violence and booth capturing, was reported from either side of the Ganges in the state. And then, they delivered a historic verdict. On the results day, their twist-in-the-tale majority mandate provided the final message of a real vox populi.