Cong slams BJP for deleting voters' names during civic polls in Gujarat at its behest; party denies claims

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress on Sunday alleged that thousands of voters in Ahmedabad could not exercise their franchise for the municipal polls held that day as their names were deliberately removed from the list by the State Election Commission (SEC) at the behest of the BJP-led Gujarat government. Alleging that “removal” of voters’ names was part of a “larger conspiracy”, Congress called for a thorough probe into it, even as the ruling BJP said the government or the party had no role preparation of voting lists. Gujarat Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki claimed that 1,000 to 4,000 names in each of the 48 wards of the city were deleted from the final electoral rolls by the SEC without informing the voters or candidates. [caption id=“attachment_2464732” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Image courtesy: Reuters[/caption] The Congress leader claimed that when voters reached the booths, they began to complain that they found their names deleted without any prior information. “We learnt that around 1,000 to 4,000 names in each ward were deleted from the final list in the city. Not just the city, it has happened across the state today. When we raised this issue with election officials, they refused to give any answer,” Solanki alleged in a press conference. He claimed that majority of the voters, whose names were deleted, belong to the Patel community. “Since this community has turned against the ruling BJP (after the quota agitation), the SEC has deleted these anti-BJP voters across the city as well as state. We demand that all such voters be allowed to cast their votes,” said Solanki. According to him, this was deliberately done by the SEC at the behest of the BJP-led state government. “Instead of organising free and fair polls, it seems that SEC is working as a part of the ruling BJP. This is purely a politically motivated step by the SEC. This is a direct attack on democratic and constitutional rights of the citizens, who are deprived of their voting right,” he alleged. However, the BJP refuted Congress’s allegations saying that SEC works independently and the BJP government as well as the party had no role in preparation of voters’ list. “Voters’ list is prepared by Central Election Commission. Congress should not blame BJP for it as the state government or BJP has no role in preparation of the list. Names of some of our voters are also missing from the voters’ list,” state BJP spokesperson IK Jadeja said. Before the press conference, Congress leaders, led by former Gujarat Congress president Siddharth Patel, rushed to the Collector’s office to seek explanation from district collector Rajkumar Beniwal. When he was making the representation, former BJP MLA from Sabarmati, Geeta Patel also reached the place and complained that her name has been deleted. “I seek your explanation on how my name was deleted, as it was there till yesterday. Being a former MLA, my name was declared under the ‘VIP list’ just yesterday by your own office. So, how come my name is deleted today? Is it done out of a conspiracy to keep away Patel community?” Geeta asked. A number of common voters, mostly from Patel community, also rushed to Beniwal’s office with the same issue. One Jayesh Patel claimed that though he cast his vote, names of his wife and father were found deleted. “As a citizen, I want to know how my wife and my father’s names got deleted. We all are living at the same place since the last 40 years and no such problem had ever occurred in the past. This is a violation of my fundamental rights,” Jayesh Patel told Beniwal in his chamber. Addressing a press conference, Siddharth Patel demanded action against all the concerned election officials for doing such “mischief”. “As part of larger conspiracy, lakhs of voters across Gujarat have been kept away by SEC to benefit BJP. We demand that a proper investigation be done and those found responsible be booked under stringent sedition charges,” he said. According to Solanki, Congress will seek legal opinion on the entire issue. “No matter what BJP will do to win polls, it is clear that Congress will sweep polls in all the six corporations. No one can stop Congress from winning. We want SEC to allow these voters to cast their votes before election ends today. Congress will take legal opinion on this issue,” he said. However, during a press conference held around 4 pm, Collector Rajkumar Beniwal made a public appeal that those who could not vote earlier due to these problems, could still vote till 5 pm. “Such a scenario might have arisen due to some technical reasons. I have asked all the polling officers to allow such voters even if their names reflect in ‘Deleted List’. Such voters should reach their respective booths for voting,” he said. PTI