Authorities ignore revised electoral list by Wadala residents

Wadala residents, who had taken up a special drive last December to complete the electoral list, must have gotten a rude shock after the authorities ignored their work and didn’t incorporate any of the revisions in the list.

Also, the authorities have not bothered to delete an entire slum from their list, which is now a pay-and-park lot.

With the Election Commission keen to curb bogus voting, Wadala resident and civic activist Nikhil Desai had met the city collector and EC officials with a plan for his area. Desai had proposed the authorities that he can get the electoral list set for them with all the details filled in if they provide him with staff.

Desai must have thought that half his work was done when the collector’s office and the deputy collector in charge for the elections in the area readily agreed to the plan.

“They have not added anything other than new names, which are only a few. Mainly, we had insisted on changes which could prevent bogus voting if details like address and photograph were on the list. They have done nothing, despite all the details being provided to them. The list is what it was in 2007,” he said.

What is even more frustrating for the residents is that even after they applied for the changes and the BMC issued a letter, the collector’s office has not deleted more than 250-300 shanties which had encroached on a BMC plot.

“Civic authorities wanted to use this plot for parking. They removed all encroachments, and even rehabilitated the people a year ago. But this change has not reflected in the list,” said Desai, who fears that these votes could be exploited if not deleted.

Desai had distributed pamphlets in his area to create awareness about voter cards and missing details in the roll. More than 50% voters’ photographs and addresses are missing in the list. He said, “I wanted to ensure that all people in my area are on the electoral roll and they can vote. But thanks to the authorities all this work has gone down the drain.”

When contacted, a senior official from the collector’s office said that there was some miscommunication between officers, and hence, the necessary changes could not be made.