Names mess in MMR: Minister among several forced to go booth hopping

Mumbai: Voting in the BMC and other municipal corporation elections proved to be a challenge for several people across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region on Thursday as they found their names missing from poll booths. Forced to go "booth hopping", many returned without casting their vote.Forest minister Ganesh Naik spent nearly an hour locating his name and booth in Koparkhairane, calling the arrangements a "mess". From Pali Hill in Bandra to Powai, from Lalbaug to Mulund, and from Kalina to Vasai-Virar, complaints kept pouring in through the day.
It was the same pattern everywhere: voters arriving at their "usual" booth, finding their names missing, and going to multiple locations with no clear answers.A BMC official said slip distribution was largely completed before polling day, claiming civic teams distributed slips to nearly 85 lakh of the over one crore registered voters, with the remaining slips kept at polling stations. The official said many slips could not be delivered because voters were not at home when staff visited.TOI spoke to several voters across the city and found that the issue was not just missing voter slips, but mismatched lists and wrong serial numbers. In Kandivli (West), a four-member family living together were split across two different electoral wards.Madhu Poplai of the Pali Hill Residents Association said voters from Blooming Heights and Anand Apartments could not find their names at St Anne's, their regular polling station, and later discovered their booth had been shifted to Chimbai. In Mulund, an elderly Neelima Shelar made repeated rounds of St Pius School to locate her name. In Goregaon, Nakul Dixit found his name on the electoral roll online, but not at the booth register at Stellar World School, Goregaon (West). Residents said the lack of clear communication on booth changes turned voting into a scavenger hunt. Kurla resident Prasad Vishwanathan was "sent in circles" between Sai Baba Mandir, a municipal ground, a municipal school, and Kedarnath Mandir — only to learn the slip he was given had outdated information. The booth was finally found behind a large structure. Calling it "pure harassment", he said the ordeal worsened his back pain and was especially punishing for the unwell and elderly.Senior citizens found it difficult to move from one polling booth to another, while many first-time voters had to return disappointed. In Matunga, 86-year-old Prabha Shah, who is proud of never having missed voting in any election in her life, had to visit four different booths before finding her name at a municipal school.First-time voters Fauzia Siddiqui and her cousin Shifa from Kalina went to vote at Saint Mary School, but could not find their names and were shuttled between booths before returning home without voting. In Borivli (W), 19-year-old Sneha Pardeshi visited multiple centres looking for her name, but without success.There were many mix-ups such as mismatch between names and serial numbers as well as duplicate names. In Lalbaug, 59-year-old Sangeeta Shetye did not receive a voter slip but her family found someone else's name listed against her serial number in the register. It took 45 minutes to locate her entry.Former Byculla resident Dr Shailesh Pol, who updated his address after moving to Lalbaug a few months ago, reported that while his family's details appeared online, his name was missing from the booth register. Due to the confusion, Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS workers stormed a polling booth in Sewri's Ward No. 205, alleging a voter was blocked despite his details being visible on the election commission website. Shiv Sena (UBT) worker Jaysingh Bhosale said booth staff searched for over an hour before the voter was allowed to cast his ballot. Zonal officer Akshay Gaikwad said many voters were arriving with identity documents but without slips, and some were carrying serial numbers used during assembly polls, adding to the mismatch.Tulshiram Shinde, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Ward No. 40, said the voter turnout was poor not because people were not interested, but because the voter list was a complete mess. Nirav Barot, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Ward No. 45, said voters were taken for granted. "People are doing rounds of polling stations in search of their names. They are frustrated and angry," he said.At the Aarey Picnic Point polling station, party workers said polling booth officials had electoral rolls for only 800 voters, and the rest of the names were missing. BJP candidate Ujwala Modak said names of at least 300 voters were missing from the electoral list in her ward.In Vasai-Virar, voters argued with booth-level officers as names could not be traced. The problem later appeared to stem from serial-number mismatches on slips, forcing voters to visit multiple centres and spend an hour or more before being allowed to vote. Former Nalasopara corporator Dhananjay Gawade, contesting from Ward No. 16 on the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi symbol, alleged booth staff were using assembly-election voter sheets, creating serial-number mismatches that sent voters from booth to booth and back into queues. He said the civic staff lacked updated software and updated voter lists. Sushant Patil of the Bhumiputra Sanghatna said booth staff themselves admitted they had not received adequate training, and claimed 70 to 80 voters in his area returned without voting after failing to trace their names.