Maharashtra Election 2019: 1,600 Mahul residents once again denied their right to vote

Maharashtra Election 2019: 1,600 Mahul residents once again denied their right to vote

Narsi BenwalUpdated: Tuesday, October 22, 2019, 12:16 AM IST
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Mumbai: Ramjit Gupta (50), after completing half of his courier delivery work, skipped his meals and used the lunch break time to cast his vote. But he was in for a shock as his name was not mentioned in the voters' list and was denied to exercise his fundamental right.

Gupta was one among 1,600 voters, who found themselves in a similar predicament, as their names had suddenly gone missing from the voters’ list.

This ‘disappointed lot’ mostly comprised Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) who have been shifted to Mahul village, termed as 'a toxic hell' of Mumbai. Incidentally, these residents had declared during Lok Sabha polls that they would not vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in any elections.

According to Gupta, he started his day as per his daily routine. "I woke up early and went to my office. Picked up all the couriers that I had to deliver for the day. I first went to nearby areas like Ghatkopar, Chembur, Kurla and then decided to use my lunch break to go and vote," Gupta told the Free Press Journal.

"I skipped my lunch and went to Ghatkopar, where I lived before being shifted to the toxic hell, Mahul. I stood in the queue for hours and to my big disappointment, I was told, I cannot vote, since my name is missing from the list," Gupta said.

Gupta further said, this was the same the case with his entire family, with most names missing while some names are there. "This list does mention the names of my old parents, wife, son and daughter. Even the names of my brother and sister-in-law missing, but surprisingly, the names of my nephew and niece were there," Gupta added.

According to the residents, the election commission has deleted the names without following any proper mechanism. All these PAPs are not registered at Mahul, but in their original place of residence. "There are many cases wherein the names of some members in one family are there and the rest have been deleted," said another resident Sanjay Rajoria (43).

Rajoria a share market broker, said, he has been denied his right to vote. "I cancelled a visit to my village, because I was to go for a wedding and instead decided to stay back to Mumbai, so that I could vote," Rajoria said.

"In fact, I went with my wife to the polling booth early in the morning, so that we could vote early and leave for the wedding by noon. However, we were shocked to see our names missing from the voters' list. I personally checked but could not find our names. It is trul shocking," Rajoria added.

The manner in which the names of Mahul residents have suddenly gone missing from the records has raised eyebrows of the voters in this area.

They allege the government has deliberately deleted their records.

"I think this is a strategy of the government to delete their names from the constituencies where the originally lived. The government is forcing them to enrol at Mahul," said Bilal Pathan, who is spearheading the movement for the safety of Mahul residents.

"The government only wants these residents to enrol at Mahul, to prove in the courts that these residents have accepted to live in Mahul," Pathan added. Currently, most of the residents have refused to live here due to the appallingly pathetic conditions and now the issue is in the Bombay High Court.

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