Mumbai: Kavira Gaikwad, 50, travelled all the way from Osmanabad to Mumbai with her husband and sons, interrupting her vacation, especially to cast her vote. But she was in for a disappointment. She could not exercise her fundamental right as her name was missing from the voters’ list.
Gaikwad was one among 1,600 voters, who found themselves in a similar predicament, as their names were suddenly missing from the voters’ list.
This ‘disappointed lot’ mostly comprised Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) who have been shifted to Mahul village, a toxic hell in the city. Incidentally, these residents had declared last week that they would not vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in any election.
According to Gaikwad, she reached Mumbai early on Monday morning, at approximately 6 am, and after freshening up, she, her husband and sons Vinayak and Jairam, went to Vidyavihar, where they used to reside before being shifted to Mahul. “We reached our usual polling booth by 7.30 am so that we could cast our votes and leave early (for Osmanabad),” Gaikwad said.
Despite reaching on time, the Gaikwads were shocked to find their names missing from the voter list. “We were told we cannot vote here (at Vidyavihar). The election staff asked us to go to Mahul, where we had been shifted. There too, our names were not found. This, despite the fact that we have voted in several parliamentary elections,” Gaikwad claimed.
“I came here especially to cast my vote and exercise my fundamental right. But it is disappointing to know that I cannot do so because of technicalities,” said a teary-eyed Gaikwad. The plight of hundreds of other Mahul residents was no different. These people have been fighting for the last four months to get ‘safer’ homes in the city.
“Initially, we went to the Vidyavihar polling booth and found our names missing in the list. We then went to the booths at Mahul village. There too, we could not cast our vote for the same reason,” said Anita Dhole, another voter, whose name was omitted from the list