Name ‘missing’ in poll roll, Vadodara Congress nominee out of civic poll race

Barot, who is registered as a voter in the Vadodara City constituency, told this newspaper that his name had been included in the electoral roll of the assembly constituency published on February 17, following the SIR. However, his name did not feature either in the March 23 electoral roll for local polls or the revised list of April 1.

Barot claimed that he had given an application seeking insertion of his name for the local body polls, but the application was not processed. “When I filed my candidature, I informed the election officer on duty that I was awaiting the revised list that was to be published on April 10, based on the judgments of the Gujarat High Court, in which it has clearly stated last week that every citizen has an indefeasible right to vote. I am a voter, as per the assembly constituency electoral roll after SIR… but the revised April 10 list has not been published.

Election officers also accepted my form stating that the name would feature in the April 10 list… ” Barot said, adding that he had even made two representations to the election officers to “publish the revised list of April 10”, including one on April 11.

The development triggered sharp political reactions as the Congress accused the BJP of “withholding” the list.

Barot said, “The BJP is baffled that Ashish Joshi, who is a popular corporator from the last term, is contesting from Ward 15 on a Congress ticket. They wanted to damage the combination of the panel that has been fielded by the Congress… Despite our repeated requests to publish the revised list on April 10, it was not done until scrutiny.”

Ashish Joshi, who joined the Congress ahead of the polls and after being suspended by the BJP in May last year, said, “There are several voters in all municipal wards whose names feature on the February 17 electoral rolls for the assembly polls but not on the local body electoral rolls. These voters will not be able to participate in the upcoming elections. Is this fair?”

Meanwhile, Hitesh Machhi joined the Congress after being denied a ticket from the BJP during its recent exercise to “gather a sense” on the ground. An active member of the BJP earlier, Machhi had even participated in the BJP’s “sense exercise” from Ward no.5 and Ward no.15.

In a similar incident, a BJP candidate originally nominated from Ward no.1, Raag Machhar, was replaced at the eleventh hour on the last day of nomination filing on Saturday after the party found that Machhar’s name had been missing from the electoral list. In Machhar’s case too, his name featured in the electoral roll of the assembly constituency but was missing in the local body’s electoral roll.

When contacted, Vadodara District Election Officer (DEO) Anil Dhameliya said the revised electoral rolls for the local body were published on April 1. Dhameliya said, “The SIR activity was undertaken by the Election Commission of India and the electoral roll for the assembly constituencies was published on February 17. The State Election Commission has based the electoral rolls of March 23 on the ECI list of February 17. Therefore, anyone, who has made an application for his or her name to be inserted in the ECI electoral roll (for Assembly Constituency) after the SIR exercise, must also make an application for the insertion of their name in the electoral rolls for the local polls. The revised list of local body electoral rolls was finalised on April 1…”

Dhameliya added that the voters, whose names have not reflected on the April 1 revised list for the local body elections will have to make fresh applications for insertion of name for the future elections.