Families fume over missing names

KOLKATA: While Shalini Sharma and Sneha Sharma, both residents of Dwarkanath Tagore Street, were flashing victory signs after casting their votes for the first time, the scene outside Balika Vidyamandir at Brojodulal Street, close to the collapsed flyover site, was different. Here Richika, Ritika and Kriti -all from the Khemka family -were seen arguing with an Election Commission official in charge Shyampukur assembly constituency after being refused to cast their votes.After a few minutes, the EC official got into his car and left the spot.
Despite having valid voter cards, the trio -one of them a first-time voter -was shown the gate simply because their names have been deleted from electoral roll. Their parents, too, were left shocked. They were also not allowed to cast their votes on the same grounds. The Khemka sisters approached the presiding officer of the booth and asked how could he bail them out. When the presiding officer said he was helpless, the resentment among the family members grew.
"Names of all the family members have been deleted. How is it possible? Only a year ago we had cast our votes for the KMC polls at the same booth.
One of my daughters, who happens to be a first-time vo ter in this assembly poll, was very exci ted. Now she feels cheated," said Ma hendra Khemka, a businessman and a resident of Jadulal Mullick Road. However, the Khemka sisters did not give up and contacted a high-ranking EC officer on phone, but to no avail. "I feel humiliated. But I won't give in. I will officially lodge a complaint with the EC," fu med Richika.
Vishal Agarwal, a market analyst with a multinational company and a resident of 20 Banarasi Ghosh Street (under Jorasanko assembly constituency), was equally agitated for not being able to cast his vote. Agarwal was loitering impatiently outside a polling booth at Rabindra Bharati university. Before Viswal, his parents and inlaws were also refused on the grounds that their names had been deleted from the electoral roll.
"I was surprised to find that names of at least 30 voters have been deleted. Despite having valid voter cards, we were not allowed to cast votes. This is certainly a conspiracy. I think the antiincumbency stand of our family prompted the ruling party to do the mischief," said Vishal, who later contacted the returning officer of Jorasanko assembly constituency and enquired about the procedure to lodge a complaint.