Thiruvananthapuram: Chief electoral officer Teekaram Meena, who is the election commission of India’s (ECI) representative in the state in charge of assembly and Lok Sabha elections, could not cast his vote in the local-body election as his name was not in the voters’ list.
Meena, a senior IAS officer in the rank of additional chief secretary, is a resident of Millenium Apartments in Jagathy, in the capital, and a voter of Poojappura ward. The discrepancy came to light only on Monday and was relayed to him by Thiruvananthapuram collector Navjot Khosa.
“It was only yesterday (Monday) that I was told that my name is not in the voters’ list. This happened because the state election commission decided to prepare a separate list for the local-body polls, without using the ECI list. This was despite all the political parties asking SEC to adopt the ECI list,” Meena told TOI.
He said SEC was expected to use the ECI list, which was last updated for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Revision is ongoing for the upcoming assembly elections. “Names of several key officials, including the state chief secretary, are not in the list of the voters for the local-body election. We have instructed all district collectors to hold a special drive and update the list for including the names of public figures, senior officials, judges, etc, for the upcoming assembly elections,” Meena said.
He said the matter will be taken up after the ongoing election. “There are lessons to be learnt,” Meena said.