Voters in some Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru were in for a shock on Thursday as they found their names missing from the electoral rolls, even though they had voted in the parliamentary elections in April and in the previous Assembly elections.
Many party workers said they would pursue the matter with the State Election Commission. On learning that their names were missing at their polling booths, a few voters rushed to other booths in their locality, assuming that their booth might have been changed. However, they were disappointed as their names did not figure even in the adjoining booths.
Manjula Kumar, a homemaker in Jaimaruthinagar of Mahalakshmi Layout constituency, said, “I voted in the last Assembly elections and in the parliamentary elections, but this morning I was surprised to find my name missing from the list.” At least 70 names have been deleted in booth number 89 of Mahalakshmi Layout, alleged K. Lakshman Gowda, a BJP party worker.
Ratnamma, a resident of Geleyara Balaga Layout, said her name too was missing from the voters’ list. “I had to travel out of the city, but I stayed back to vote. I was shocked to see my name was not on the list.”
Presiding officers at several booths where such complaints were received pointed out that had the voters cross-checked the list earlier, this situation could have been avoided. The issue of missing names surfaces during every election in Bengaluru, despite promises that revision of electoral rolls would solve the problem.
