Newton Kumar is an idealistic, everything-according-to-the-book government employee who volunteers to oversee Election Day in the remote Dandakaranya forest in central India, where Maoist rebels have threatened to disrupt the vote. There are only 76 registered voters in his precinct, and they’re hard to find. Accompanied by comic-relief election worker Malko Netam, a local indigenous teacher, and a contingent of the Central Reserve Police Force, led by Commander Aatma Singh, Newton insists on setting up shop for voting in an abandoned schoolhouse. No voters show up. Aatma Singh tries to convince Newton to give it up and let him and his men gather votes their way, while Malko explains to Newton that the central government has no relevance to the lives of the local Gond people. But stubborn Newton will not be swayed.
When a television crew arrives to record this shining example of Indian democracy at work, everyone is forced to snap into action in support of the election. Locals are rounded up and election procedures are explained to them. The problem is that the local people have never heard of any of the candidates nor the parties they represent. And they are worried about the reprisals the Maoist Naxals, who are promoting a boycott of the election, might bring down upon them. It is the local chief who is wise enough to find a solution.
