South, Central Mumbai better their voting record

During the last civic election, according to analysts, about 12 per cent of Colaba and Cuffe Parade managed to get out of their homes to vote. This year, the figure crossed 25 per cent. Abysmal, but better. However, the low percentage this year, apart from apathy, could also omission of names from official voting lists and problems associated with delimitation.

Skirmishes between electoral officials and voters with missing names were a common concern throughout South and Central Mumbai. Dorothy Rodricks, 78, a resident of Sethna building and wife of the famous Ballroom Dancer JJ Rodricks from Colaba, has been unable to vote for the past two elections as her name has been deleted from the voting list. “My family had registered our names a few months ago, and even then our names were not listed,” she fumed. “My entire building faced the same problem.”

After delimitation, some buildings have been moved to other wards and polling stations, but most tenants living in Basant Apartments at Cuffe Parade could not find their names in the list. “For years, I have been voting at GD Somani School polling centre,” said Paresh Gidwani, a resident of Persepolis building opposite the school. “When I arrived at the booth, I was told to go to the Dunnes Institute, which is far away from our building. I didn’t feel like voting after that.”

Besides the Cuffe Parade and Colaba polling stations, centres at Napean Sea Road and Mumbadevi also reported a very low voter turnout. But in lower middle-class dominated areas such as Dharavi, Worli and Mahim, the turnout was high. For instance, at one polling station at Worli, 25 per cent of voters had voted by noon while Dharavi recorded more than 20 per cent until 11.30am.