For bank manager Bharat Hiteshi and his wife, besides Mahesh Kumar and four family members, apart from many others, the day was dull as their voter I-cards were not honoured by the polling staff due to which they could not cast their votes. Another Sector 19 resident Umesh was not allowed to cast a vote when there was a spelling error in his name.S.M. Batti, an independent candidate for the lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, alleged that the EVM at Booth No 341 of Government Model High School, Sector 38-D, recorded 249 votes cast against 250 votes polled.The city denizens were a proud lot today for the city has become the 46th parliamentary constituency to use the Electronic Voting Machine.Another attraction at the booths was the television crews with whom everyone wanted to "share their feelings" leaving the poor print media cousins midstream.Women voters outnumbered men at several polling stations. While the rural women were seen with their faces covered with a `pallu' (part of saree), burqa-clad Muslim women queued up in large numbers outside polling booths in the walled city.Popular picnic spots including the Rose Garden, Rock Garden and Terraced Garden in Sector 33 witnessed an unprecedented rush today. It seems most people decided to have some fun after fulfilling their electoral duties.A pleasant day was witnessed in the afternoon throughout the city as drizzling welcome the voters to elect their representative for the lone Chandigarh Parliamentary seat.Senior police and election officials were on their toes all the time and were seen personally supervising the arrangements.Apprehending low turn out, poll agents said many city-based families belonging to neighbouring states left for their native places on account of the three-day holiday from Janmashtami on Friday.Despite ban on carrying of voters to polling booths, few vehicles were spotted violating the order.The voters of Burail village had to cover 2 km to exercise their franchise in Sector 46-C.The only sad faces were those of tipplers who had not stored for the rainy day, as all liquor vends in Chandigarh have been closed since Friday. The left out dwellers of the Sector 31 Labour Colony had to shell out for casting votes in the rehabilited colony of Maulijaran.In the absence of the provision of tender voting, most of the voters denied their right to franchise. Earlier, the tender votes were being used in case the marging of winning candidate is less.
