“Two Ex-CMs Miss Voting Due to Voter List Errors – Who Takes Responsibility?”

Uttarakhand: Irregularities in Uttarakhand Municipal Election Voter List Raise Serious Concerns The voter list discrepancies in Uttarakhand’s municipal elections have raised significant questions about the preparation process. People are left wondering how such lists were created where names of citizens eligible to vote in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were omitted, while names of underage individuals were included. The situation was so chaotic that even two former chief ministers of the state couldn’t cast their votes. Koshyari Unable to Cast His Vote Former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari was unable to vote due to errors in the voter list. His registered vote is in Pithoragarh, and he arrived there two days before the elections to ensure he could cast his vote. However, upon checking the voter list, he found his name was incorrectly recorded, though his father’s name was accurate. Due to this discrepancy, Koshyari could not vote. This might be the first time Bhagat Da missed casting his vote, as he has always been consistent in exercising his right to vote regardless of where he was.
Harish Rawat Misses Out Due to Confusion Similarly, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat also couldn’t vote. His registered residential address is listed at a house on Rajiv Juyal Marg in Dehradun, where he has always voted at the Majra ITI polling booth. On election day, Rawat found his name missing from the voter list. Since he currently resides in Defense Colony, his staff checked there as well, but to no avail. Rawat requested election officials to add his name, but due to technical issues, they couldn’t do so on time. By the time it was revealed that his name was on the Defense Colony voter list, polling had already ended, leaving him unable to vote. A 9-Year-Old Listed as a Voter in Pauri The errors didn’t stop there. In Pauri, an 11-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl were listed as voters. Their families were shocked to see their names on the voter list, highlighting the depth of the mismanagement.
Missing Names Everywhere Reports of missing names poured in from across the state. Congress spokesperson Garima Mahra and former Doon Hospital MS KC Pant couldn’t find their names on the voter list. Journalist Arvind Shekhar’s name was also missing. Many individuals who have consistently voted in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections found their names excluded from the municipal voter list. Several people arrived at polling booths eager to vote but had to leave disappointed. Five Lakh Added, Yet Many Missing The extent of the electoral department’s laxity is evident in the numbers. While officials claimed to have added five lakh new voters to the list, they also omitted names of long-standing voters. In the previous municipal elections, there were 84 municipalities and 25 lakh voters. This time, with 100 municipalities, the voter count was projected to be 30 lakh—a growth of five lakh voters and 16 additional municipalities. However, despite this increase, reports of missing names emerged from nearly every corner, raising serious questions about the integrity of the process. Who Will Take Responsibility? The glaring discrepancies and missing names in the voter list raise a pressing question: who is responsible for this mess? What were the officials in charge doing? With municipal elections already delayed, such errors are inexcusable. Identifying accountability for these lapses is essential to ensure that the democratic rights of citizens are protected in future elections.