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| ‘Defective’ electoral rolls: Voters in quandary | | (In Focus) | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU: A potential candidate found missing from the voters list and a dead person’s vote being cast in other’s name in the electoral process of the state is a common feature that Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) should feel embarrassed of.
Anyhow nothing of the sort has changed with the system as JMC’s mordant attitude continues unabated and people’s hue and cry keeps striking shrieking echoes, but on deaf ears only.
Decades after also since there has been government’s claim to rehash (revise) the voter lists of the candidates to include them “fairly” into the rolls, nothing effective has been visible except the administration’s monotonous recycling of the event, obviously scoping in for glaring mistakes on the candidates’ names for a ratification in the “next attempt”. And the system still is in vogue in the present electronic era also.
“It is just not only the non-seriousness of the JMC, but a sarcastic pointer towards their inability to appoint literate officials to do the needful. Every time the electoral roll coming up for a new rectification is a mockery of the system in democracy that should call for a severe reprimand,” said Pankaj Verma, 42, a corporate sector employee who has been the victim of such mismanagement of his name in the electoral roll who finally had to shun the idea of being a ‘candidate for vote’.
Similarly Dev Raj, 66, of Old Rehari who quite often blamed to have been denied his voting right because of his name occurring in another ward of New Rehari is an irony with the senior citizen who cracks jokes on the account saying, “Though the government as well as the democratic system has already heavily burdened a common man with many other responsibilities, liberating me of this liability makes me somehow feel lighter.”
As the elections to different local bodies have gained importance since recent past and have proved a “deciding factor” to Assembly and Parliamentary elections, “discrepancies” in the electoral rolls have also raised the eyebrows of the political outfits across the State.
The political leaders-irrespective of their party affiliations-have raised the objections with regard to “defective” electoral rolls alleging that the names of deserving and genuine electorates have been deleted from drafted electoral rolls on political considerations.
“The names of about 800 genuine electorates in Sainik Colony ward were deleted to give undue benefit to a particular political party. It would not serve the basic purpose of holding elections if the genuine electorates are debarred from the elections,” Chaman Lal Gupta, Leader of BJP Legislature Party had stated on the floor of Legislative Assembly couple of days back.
Ironically, the name of an electorate has been found in the electoral rolls of more than two municipal wards which itself reflects the “sincerity” and “genuineness” of holding elections.
Though the State Election Department has extended the date of revision of electoral rolls for another ten days, yet the efforts to rehash the lists to include the deserving and genuine electorates into the rolls seems to be elusive.
“We don’t expect the things would change in next ten days. Earlier, the verifications of electoral rolls were conducted through door to door exercise which was an effective system of bringing transparency and genuineness in the voter lists. This time, no election agent visited our locality and poll officers appointed by the Municipal authorities have been sitting on a particular spot and they are not accessible for all electorates,” Balbir Ram, a staunch BJP supporter said.
He further said, “The electoral rolls are being revised in haste and it would definitely give benefit to the candidates of a particular political party.”
The Election Department has extended revision timing of electoral rolls for another ten days with notification for the polls is now likely to be issued either on April 23 or 24.
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