Election cell provides no facilities at booths

PANCHKULA: Despite the strong claims of the election cell in Panchkula of making the best possible arrangements at the polling stations, a large number of voters suffered harassment due to lack of facilities at the booths. With no wheelchairs arranged for senior citizens, they had to suffer pain in order to reach the booths. There were voters above the age of 90 seen casting their vote in deep pain.
Few voters even complained about mismanagement at the booths. Discouraged by the poor arrangements, furious voters even stated that they would not bring their parents for voting the next time. "It is really sad to see voting become a pain for old voters. My father - an ex-serviceman in his early nineties - was not provided a wheelchair to the booth in Sector 11. Moreover, there was no one to help him, and so, I had to carry him all alone to the booth. This is just not done, and thus I would never let him come to vote again," stated Col. Rupinder Singh, a resident of Sector 11.
Over a hundred voters could not cast their votes in the district, as their names did not appear in the list. Many even alleged the election staff of being careless and least bothered about helping them. "I had five voters in my house, but the people sitting with the list at the booths denied having our names in the list. This is really annoying that we could not contribute in the formation of the government. This shows the functioning of these election officers," said Manish Luthra from Pinjore.
Even officials deputed at the booths did not have a great time, as many alleged they were not offered anything to eat. "No one came to us to offer even a glass of water. If we had left our seat to have water, action would have been taken against us. We were left waiting for food the whole day," claimed Maya Devi, the booth-in-charge.