Migrants eager to cast votes

That the city is home to a large migrant population is well-known. But the good news is that many of them are all set to make their presence felt in the Lok Sabha elections this time around.
Eager to vote but uncertain if they would be able to travel to their hometowns for the purpose , many young professionals settled in the city have now got themselves enrolled as voters in Karnataka.This way they have ensured they don’t miss out on their voting rights.
“Air travel has become so expensive and to go all the way to Mumbai only to vote is certainly not feasible. Also, the process to get ourselves enrolled was pretty simple here which is why we went ahead and are now voters in Bangalore. We are going to visit the polling booths early and cast our votes as citizens of the country ,” said Kruti Desai. She and her husband Sanjay , residents of Koramangala , got their names included during the last phase of enrolment.
“I wanted to vote here as I have been residing in this city now for the last three years and have been following the political developments here. I thought it is sensible to cast my vote here and be a part of the change I want rather than vote in my hometown where I would have to vote depending on feedback from my family members ,” said Kusum Bhandari , a UP native settled in Bangalore.
Nilotpal Samanta too got his name registered ahead of this year’s polls. Reason : he is settling down in Bangalore. “I decided to first get myself an EPIC and vote. I am very excited as this is the first time when I get to exercise my right ,” said Nilotpal , a financial analyst residing in the city for the past eight years. As he wasn’t sure about staying back in the city , he delayed getting a voter ID card but after getting married last year , the couple knows they are going to make namma Bengaluru their home.
For techie Abhishek Gupta , it was a different experience though. He got his EPIC in the last week of March but casting his vote on Thursday might be a dream as his name does not figure in the enrolment list. “I don’t know what went wrong and where. As I got my EPIC on time , I assumed that my name would be included in the electoral list, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I logged in to the CEO website to know my polling station but could not find my name anywhere. Now there is no time to do a follow-up either ,” said a disappointed Gupta.
When TOI contacted the CEO’s office, they said that new voters are many and the awareness has certainly grown manifold. But people whose names don’t figure in the electoral list this time will have to apply afresh and get their names included the next time.