Man goes to vote in MCD polls, told he is 'dead': Report

Many voters who enthusiastically turned up to vote were shocked beyond belief to not find their names

In an embarrassing gaffe by polling authorities during the MCD polls in Delhi on Sunday, one of the voters who turned up to vote was told they were dead while another found his deceased father's name remained on the list of voters.

According to a Times of India report, a voter by name Jaipal learnt that he was 'dead' when we went to cast his vote.

As bizarre as it may sound, Jaipal tried to prevail upon the election officers that it was his brother Jai Kishan who was dead, but they weren’t the ones to relent.

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“I visited the polling booth twice to make sure there was no misunderstanding. I had all my documents, but the polling officer told me that my name isn’t on the electoral roll because, according to their documents, I am dead. I informed him that it was my brother, Jai Kishan, who died eight months ago. I was told that my brother’s name indeed wasn’t on the rolls,” the publication quoted him as saying.

Contrary to what Jaipal faced, another resident, S Mukherjee, found out that his deceased father’s name figured on the voters’ list several years after he had passed away.

“Before the last elections, we applied for the deletion of his name and even told the booth level officers who visited during the revision of the electoral roll. Despite this, his name remained on the list,” he told TOI.

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Meanwhile Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar Chaudhary could not cast his vote in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections on Sunday after finding out that his name was missing from the electoral rolls.

While a delegation of Delhi Congress leaders filed a complaint with the State Election Commission alleging foul play, authorities said the electoral rolls are prepared by the Election Commission of India.

On his part, an SEC official said, “The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), as representative of the Election Commission of India, is responsible for the preparation of the electoral rolls. All additions and deletions are done by the CEO. SEC only adopts the electoral rolls on an as-is-where-is basis. SEC has no jurisdiction to add or delete names.”

(with agency inputs)