Last minute rush to enrol for electoral rolls

People throng MCC election branch; 1,000 applications in a day

 People in large numbers thronged the election wing of the Mysore City Corporation (MCC), here, on Sunday, the last day of the special drive to facilitate the enrolment of voters ahead of Lok Sabha polls, scheduled to be held in nine phases starting from April 9.

As it was a holiday, serpentine queues were witnessed in front of the dedicated counters at the election branch (new building of the MCC), with men and women alike — irrespective of age group — waiting for their turn.

According to an estimate, about 1,000 applications were received — comprising all three constituencies in the city, Krishnaraja, Chamaraja and Narasimharaja.

A majority among the applications were regarding inclusion of voters with Form 6 issued for the purpose. The remaining were corrections, if any, in the existing electoral rolls with Forms 7 and 8 issued for the same at about 200 in each of the constituencies. People continued to visit the MCC even after the drive came to close at 5 pm.

An official involved in the process, preferring anonymity, told Deccan Herald, ever since the special drive was launched on March 9 to enrol the voters, the highest of 2,000 applications have been received in the past one week from N R constituency, followed by 1,950 in Chamaraja and 1,500 in Krishnaraja Assembly constituency.

With the Election Commission of India mandating the district electoral officers to upload the names of the voters as and when the applications were received, the data entry operators at the MCC were seen working on a war footing.

To facilitate voters, who do not possess address proof, a notary had set up a temporary office within the precincts of the MCC, to issue affidavits.

While the counters at the MCC were catering to the applicants of only three constituencies of the city, for Chamundeshwari constituency — forming the rural part of Mysore — the application forms were issued and applications received at the taluk office in Mini Vidhana Soudha, in Nazarbad.