Anomalies leave many voters high and dry

PATNA: The festival of democracy turned out to be a low-key affair in Patna on Tuesday. The entire city presented a curfew-like scene with mostly policemen and administrative officials on the roads. Except for a rare bicycle or a two-wheeler, roads were mostly deserted. All the shops, cinema halls and other public places were closed.
As vehicles were forced off the road, people had to walk their way to polling booths.Besides anomalies in the voters'' list deprived a number of voters from exercising their franchise.
Kanhaiyajee and his wife went to the Veterinary College polling booth in the morning. Despite possessing photo identity card (PIC), they were not allowed to vote as their names were missing from the voters'' list. He argued with poll officials that they had been casting their votes at the same booth for several years. But there was no one to help them out. There were many others like them who returned disappointed despite possessing the PIC. Binod Kant Shukla of Kankarbagh, said police personnel deployed at the booth scared him off with their batons when he sought information. He too had his PIC but was not allowed to vote.
"People belonging to some sectors of Kankerbagh Colony don''t have their names on the voters'' list in entirety," said Akhilesh Kumar. Pramila Verma of Hanuman Nagar searched for her name in the voters'' lists of five polling booths of her locality but could not find it. She gave up.
"A number of voters had to return without casting their votes as their names were missing from the list and we were in no position to help them," said Ratan Kumar Srivastava, a polling officer deputed at Doud Bigha.
Santosh Kumar of Alamganj said he had his name on the voters'' list but did not have a PIC. "We were told that we would be allowed to vote if we showed our ration card but still I could not vote," he added.
Ward councillor of ward number 41 Gulfishan Jamin said a number of genuine voters had been sent off without voting. "More than 30 per cent of the people of this ward don''t have their PICs. Anti-social elements have looted their PICs. We complained to the DM and were told that we would be permitted to vote if we provided the slips given by polling agents. But here the people are being shown the door," she observed.