2019 Lok Sabha polls: Names not on rolls, officials harassed, complain voters
Chennai: Voters in large numbers complained that their names were missing in the electoral rolls and that they were turned away by officials when they went to their regular polling booths to vote.
Several actors and prominent personalities were unable to cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. Several thousand fishermen in Kanyakumari and coastal districts also complained that their names were removed from the electoral rolls by the authorities fearing that they would vote against the ruling party.
Bollywood actor ‘Robo’ Sankar, Ramesh Kanna among others were unable to cast their votes as their names did not figure in the voters list.
Mr S. Ramachandran, 63, of Ashok Nagar, said "I reached the polling station at 7th Avenue along with my family members to cast our votes. The polling officials did not allow us to vote as our names were not on the voters list. However, my son and daughter exercised their franchise in the same booth."
He said. "The authorities have committed a criminal offence by denying us our democratic right. Election Commission must be held responsible for the goof up."
Mr D. Ramesh of Saidapet, said the Election Commission not taken adequate efforts to raise awareness among the voters about the polling process and steps to get voter slips and alternative methods to cast their vote. The officials have not distributed booth slips properly as in the previous election. "Even though the EC hoped to achieve 100 per cent votes, EC had not taken sincere efforts to achieve the target," he claimed.
A large number of people in coastal region were unable to vote in Kanyakumari and other coastal districts.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Mr C. Brito Antony of Annai Illam, Pallam village in Kanyakumari, attributed the missing names to the fear of the ruling party that the fishermen community would not vote for it due to the alleged mishandling of the situation after Cyclone Ockhi
He said the cyclone had devastated coastal districts including Kanyakumari in November 2017. "A large number of fishermen were affected by the cyclone and more than 200 fishermen died. The livelihood of fishermen was affected severely and 100 large boats were missing. Neither the Central government nor state government made any effort to trace the missing fishermen. So far the governments have not issued any relief to the fishermen," he said.
He alleged that the authorities sensed that the fishermen in Thoothur, Vallavizhai, Inaiyam, Iraiyanman Thurai in Kanyakumari district were sore over this. "The authorities knew that these people will not vote for the ruling party. Hence, they clandestinely removed 30,000 names from the final voters list. All these people voted in the last Assembly election in May 2016," Mr Antony said. In the past, fishermen voted for the AIADMK ever since former chief minister M.G. Ramachandran formed party in 1972. Because of their disappointment with the manner in which the state and Central governments handled the relief and rehabilitation process after Cyclones Ockhi and Gaja, fishermen were sore over the ruling party and its alliance partners, Mr Antony said.
A large number of people in districts affected by the Cyclone Gaja also faced a similar problem in the poll, he added.
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