TAKING a strong objection to the rationalisation of polling booths under the ongoing special summary revision of voters’ list, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has warned of a vehement agitation against the Election Commission. The district administration has taken up a special summary revision of voters’ list in Nagpur district as directed by the Election Commission of India. Attempts are being made to set up polling stations in residential complexes/high-rises/apartments having more than 200 flats as well as in places where the number of voters is above 900.

 

Objecting to the mindless merger of voters in separate lists, Fadnavis, who represents the South-West Assembly Constituency, has shot a letter to the Chief Election Officer of Maharashtra seeking his immediate intervention. The Deputy CM has stated in the letter that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had demanded to reduce the number of voters at booths having 1,500 voters and set up ‘A’ and ‘B’ booths in the same building without changing the location. “However, in the South-West constituency, it has come to notice that while reducing the number of voters from 1500, the names are being added to other centres having 800-900 voters. It will lead to total confusion as voters from same building will have to cast their vote in different centres,” the letter stated. Fadnavis has further said that the current electoral rolls in the city are faulty as one list contains names of voters living in different areas, without checking the sequence. Further, he alleged, names of voters from the same family are on three different pages in the electoral rolls, resulting in Booth-level Officers not reaching them.

 

It had already deprived many voters from exercising their right to vote during the recently held Lok Sabha elections. In such a situation, if names from one list are moved to another list, it would deprive such shifted voters from exercising their franchise in upcoming Assembly elections. “Faulty preparation of voters’ list by officers sitting in cosy offices was a major factor in low voting percentage during the general elections to Lok Sabha. Same mistake is being repeated for the Assembly elections,” Fadnavis alleged in the letter while demanding division of big voters’ list into ‘A’ and ‘B’ while keeping two separate rooms at the same polling station. The former CM has warned of launching an agitation against the Election Commission if their demands were not met with.