Chaos struck booths across Allahabad city, which polled 30.5 per cent votes for the urban local body elections, as several found their names missing from voters’ lists on Sunday. Allahabad district too polled just 34 per cent. Many voters expressed anger and disappointment, saying their names were “diverted” to other ward booths “for the first time”. Some wondered if this may have been part of a delimitation exercise, as part of which boundaries of wards are redrawn. Prabhat Mishra, a project officer in a government department and a resident of the upscale Civil Lines, said, “We could not exercise our rights to vote because no one in my family could find his or her name on the list this morning. No one, save for two people, have been able to vote in my complex for the same reason. I kept running to nearby booths to check if my name had been diverted. Now I do not understand which rung of the government machinery has erred or if this has been done on purpose.” Booth level officers across the city sat poring over pages of voter lists, trying to find names all through Sunday. Among those sent back were old and crippled citizens, due to various reasons including an address or name mismatch, or their names being missing from the voters’ list. Kanhaiya Lal, a booth officer at a public school in Meerapur, Old Allahabad, said, “The survey of voters in each ward is done by booth level officers for weeks before elections. But this time many cases of missing names have surfaced. There has been very low turnout, roughly 25 per cent at 2 pm in my booth.” His colleague said this time, the survey conducted was “faulty”. At the gates of the school, Dinesh Srivastav, a booth level officer, was explaining to irate voters, “The survey has been conducted by other people sent by the State Election Commission. What are we supposed to do if your names are not on the list?” In Old Allahabad’s Muslim-dominated Roshanbagh, Nuri Begum (47) said, “Instead of my name, the voter list has my landlord’s name against my home address, though he left the house 20 years ago. This is the first time this has happened. I have been voting in all elections for years.” Former Union minister Kalraj Mishra said he was in Lucknow on Sunday but could not vote because his name was missing from the voters’ list. “Yesterday I asked local BJP for the voter slip. But they couldn’t provide it till this morning. It was also supposed to be their responsibility to check it. The administration should check and ensure names of VIPs are on the list,” he said, adding that he had voted in every civic poll in Lucknow in the past. SP MLA Nasir Khan, “I was told by the district magistrate that my name is not on the list, so I didn’t go to vote.” SP president Akhilesh Yadav also tweeted, “Media reports that a lot of voters names are missing from the voting list of today’s election.This type of digital India cannot take us forward. Media reports that a lot of voters names are missing from the voting list of today’s election.This type of digital India cannot take us forward (sic).” District Magistrate, Allahabad, Suhas L Y, who is also the district election officer, said, “There were few complaints coming in today and we are looking into them. The booth-level officer found responsible for these lapses will be pulled up. But this is in no way the reason behind the low voter turnout. Allahabad traditionally votes low, and last time’s civic poll figures were lower than this time.” State Election Commissioner S K Agarwal told The Indian Express, “There were very few cases of names not being on the list. If there was a widespread problem, we do not know about it. We are not in touch with the people on the ground. Those who are, should substantiate their claims by showing me the lists.” (With inputs from Lalmani Verma)
