3,000 voters disappear from rolls!

Scores of Punekars, including daughter of LS candidate, could not vote because their names were missing from the voters' list

3,000 voters disappear from rolls!

Scores of Punekars, including daughter of LS candidate, could not vote because their names were missing from the voters' list

Amrita Vikram Boke (21), the daughter of former superintendent of police Vikram Boke, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Pune as an independent candidate, could not vote yesterday because her name did not appear on the voters' list at the ITI polling centre in Aundh. Sources said the names of about 3,000 voters in the constituency were missing from the list.

"Amrita registered as a voter two years ago. She could not cast her vote during the Pune Municipal Corporation elections then, as she was studying in the UK. This would have been the first time she would have voted. This is sheer lack of governance," said Vikram Boke.

Surinder Juneja from Modern Colony, said, "More than 20 voters from Shivaji Nagar and Kasba Peth visited our office this morning to complain that their names were missing from the voters' list."

Seventy-eight-year-old Vishnu Shankar Deshpande (Bachatwale), who was an independent candidate in the 1994 Pune Lok Sabha elections, had a similar experience. "I will approach the Election Commission," said a visibly upset Deshpande.u00a0

Amar Sharma, a BJP activist, said the names of 100 families from Shivajinagar had disappeared from the voters' list.

Dr Rohini Patil, a resident of Amer Ambience, Sopan Baug, Erandwane, said she was among the 110 families in her housing society, who could not vote because of the same reason.u00a0

Varsha Untwal, the deputy district election officer, told MiD DAY, "At this stage, we can't do anything. We did publish the voters' updated lists in newspapers well in advance, so that citizens could approach us. We are only following norms set by the Election Commission."