There was hue and cry when Deepak Parekh and Ram Jethmalani could not find their name in voters list in last Loksabha election. But is it only electoral returning officers are accountable or to be blamed?
Scores of high profile voters in the Malabar Hill Lok Sabha constituency were left feeling baffled and disappointed as they couldn't cast their vote during the last Lok Sabha elections. The reason: their names were missing from the voters' list.
As per the Election commission of India's manuals, there should be a photograph on voters list. There were many high profile names which were without photographs on voters list. The returning officers of respective constituencies tried numerous attempts to contact them through all sources to submit their photographs. As these people who failed to submit photos, their name was deleted from voters list.
It may be noted that Malabar Hill constituency is one of the high profile and richest constituency of India where India's almost all leading tycoons, jurist, politicians, beauraucrats resides. The list of prominent personality includes, His Excellency The Governor, honorable Chief Justice of Bombay High court, Judges, Tatas, Birlas, Godrej, Ambani, Ruias, Podars, Lata mangeshkar, Vinod Khanna, Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues, leading senior most Government of India officers and senior most officers of state Government.
Padmakar R Rokade, returning officer of Malabar Hill Constituency says "We are here to include all genuine voters name in voters list and it is our duty. After Loksabha election we have enrolled 10,000 new names in Malabar Hill Constituency alone including Deepak Parikh and his family."
When asked about deletion of Deepak Parekh's name, he elaborated "Indeed he is a very important person in the country but his name got deleted from voters list as his photograph was not there. I have sent Booth Level Officer (BLO) from my office six times to his residence, to collect new form filled along with photo affixed on it. Every time security staff of his society refuse to allow him to meet up, by saying he is not there. The BLO is a government staff and he displays his photo Identity card to security staff but they are reluctant to allow. So where does our fault lies?
Maya Patole, Deputy District Electoral officer, Mumbai city, says "The names of high profile people like Ram Jethmalani and Deepak Parekh also enrolled in current drive. The enrolment drive will go on till ten days before the nominations of candidates. The nomination dates are yet to announce by election commission, so it's a time for eligible person to come forward to enroll their names in respective constituency.
Chandani Ashok Nayak, Resident of Shreepati Arcade, Nana Chowk, one of the tallest buildings of Mumbai says "When I applied for election card I was not expecting that it would come so fast. One of the election officers came to my place to distribute the card, which really stunned me. I am a first time voter and was so excited to receive my card. I couldn't believe that government officials are so prompt in their job which made me think positive about them."
Riya Ashok Rathod, resident of Om Dariya Mahal, Nepean Sea Road another first time voter said "The election office staff collected filled forms from our society building. Surprisingly we received five cards of my family within twenty days flat. Indeed government official's surely work that is why we our card on time. My experience with government officials is really good but I fail to understand why people always think negative about them".
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