Voters disappointed after names go missing

| | NEW DELHI
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Voters disappointed after names go missing

Monday, 13 May 2019 | CHANDAN PRAKASH/ Gayathri Mani | NEW DELHI

Many voters in the national Capital came out disappointed after they found their names missing from voter list on Sunday. Some of the polling booth witnessed a chaos like situation as voters were running everywhere in search of officials of the Delhi Election Commission to lodge their plaint.

Tanvir Alam and three members of his family all resident of Jafrabad of north east constituency were among who could not cast their votes as their names were also missing from voter’s list. “It feels very bad when you reach to cast your vote with your family but your name is missing in the list,” he said, adding that he even sought help from officials there but they all were apathetic to even paying heeds.

The 64 year old Hallena (disabled), a resident of Matia Mahal in Chandni Chowk constituency kept fleeting around the polling stattion at Kamla Market for over half an hour. She left dejected as she could not vote as her name was missing from the electoral roll. When asked she said, “I have never experienced such a treatment. I have been voting in every election but could not do so this time”.

Hallena was not the only one as there were many people like her who could not exercise their franchise in this Lok Sabha election. Those who could not cast their vote wore desolate looks.  “This is ridiculous. I am the original residents of this area and have all the documents to prove my claim. My family is still living in the area and it is difficult to understand why my name is missing the list,” said Kamla Devi, a 70 years old woman after she failed to cast her vote.

Similar complaints were also reported in Nand Nagri, Timarpur and Nand Nagri areas. “I am a permanent resident here and have been voting for years. How can I be denied to exercise my franchise? asked Baljeet, a resident of Nehru Vihar which comes under north east constituency.

“I came to vote after taking lunch thinking that it will take a few minutes but people sitting out there at station did not find my name and asked me to leave. I showed my voter identity card, Aadhar card and other proof to prove my claim but they said that my name should be in the list only after I could cast my votes,” said Aman Arora, who works as an engineer in a private firm.

Rohit Kumar, 30, a resident of Timarpur who is preparing for civil services also rued that he could not vote. “I am feeling very disappointed after being denied to exercise my constitutional right to vote. I have been voting in every election whether it is assembly, Municipal Corporation’s or parliamentary elections but suddenly my name has been cut from the list, how? he asked. 

“The BLO of the area said that I was not found living at my residence. I have joined coaching center and spent 8 to 9 hours there,” he said, adding that how the poll body can can cut names only because they did not find the person at home at the time of verification. They could have called to ascertain whether I am still resident or not, he added.

A booth level officer (BLO) at Nehru Vihar said that many of the voters here are not the permanent residents but students living for years. “They have become voters but keep changing locality. When we visit houses for verification, often they are found missing and owners of the buildings informed us they either have left or shifted to another locality. This is the primary reason that they did not find their name in voter list,” she said.

There are 43 independent candidates. While 2,54,723 voters are in the age group of 18 and 19, there are 40,532 electorate with disability who would be provided pick up and drop facility.

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