Bhopal Municipal Corporation polls: Voters shuttle between MLB College, Polytechnic to locate their names

Bhopal Municipal Corporation polls: Voters shuttle between MLB College, Polytechnic to locate their names

Many forced to spend hours before being allowed to vote; some return without casting their ballot

SmitaUpdated: Wednesday, July 06, 2022, 05:00 PM IST
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MLB College, Professor's Colony | Smita

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Voters were running back and forth between the around seven polling booths at MLB College and six at SV Polytechnic across the road, looking for their names in the voters’ list in the city on Wednesday afternoon.

S V Polytechnic College

S V Polytechnic College | Smita

A harried-looking Kalim Mohammed Khan said he had to spend an hour searching for his name in the voters’ list. “Nirvachan aayog fail hai,” he said. Kalim, a businessman, told the Free Press that when he reached the polling booth, he was told that the voter number mentioned in the slip that was delivered to his home was wrong. “There was no officer to guide me,” he said.

Kalim Mohammed Khan

Kalim Mohammed Khan | Smita

Neha Mishra said that the slip she had received mentioned that her polling booth was at the Polytechnic. When she reached Polytechnic, she was told to go to the MLB College. After spending more than an hour there, she was again asked to go to Polytechnic. “Finally I could vote. I was determined not to leave without casting my ballot,” Neha said.

Neha Mishra (left) with her sister Manisha Ingle

Neha Mishra (left) with her sister Manisha Ingle | Smita

A woman, who introduced herself as ‘Mrs. Agarwal’, said that the polling booth number mentioned in her slip was 637. However, her name was listed at polling booth number 627. It took her more than 30 minutes to locate the right booth. “In logon ne kya kar diya hai mujhe nahi samajh mein aa raha hai,” she said.

Tariq Khan, who works with the BMC and lives at Ahata Rustam Khan, said that voters’ slips of persons who were dead for more than ten years were distributed in his locality but his wife’s slip was not delivered.

Sibai Ahmed from Kilol Park that she had got the slip but was told that her name had been deleted from the voters’ list. Her mother, 70, however, could cast her vote.

Zubaida Bi

Zubaida Bi | Smita

Zubaida Bi, a septuagenarian, was brought on a wheelchair to cast her vote at the MLB College. Her son, Rais Khan was pushing the wheelchair. Zubaida Bi’s 19-year-old grandson also voted along with them. “Voting is important. That is why I have come,” Zubaida Bi said.

At the polling booth at Kala Akademi, three Muslim women from the Roshanpura locality said that they were satisfied with the arrangements. One of them, however, felt that more time should be given to the voters to choose which button to press. “They keep on saying jaldi karo, jaldi karo. We can’t even read the names of the candidates properly,” she said.

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