Rajouri Garden Bypoll: More than half of voters stay away

NEW DELHI: Polling booths in the Rajouri Garden assembly constituency wore a deserted look on Sunday morning with voter turnout for the by-election as low as 10% till 1pm.
By the end of the day, 47% of people had cast their votes. Only 10 people turned up in J-block of Rajouri Garden till 10:30am. Some of those who did come to vote complained that their names were not on the list.Parminder Singh, a resident, was seen arguing with the staff on polling duty. “I have a slip with all necessary details, but they are not allowing me to vote as my name is not on their list,” he said. He was later allowed to cast his vote.
Rajinder Kaur, a 75-year-old resident of Rajouri Garden A block, wasn’t so lucky and had to return home. “I came all the way to the booth, but was told that my name was missing from the list. This is so frustrating,” she said.
TOI caught up with another voter, Vishal Singh, who said he was going home after waiting for 30 minutes as the EVMs were not working. “The machines are not working. How we are supposed to cast our votes? This is such a waste of time ” he said irritably.
The situation was similar in Khayala, with many people finding their names missing.
“Voting is our right, but we are not being allowed to exercise it. My name is not there on their list, but that of my wife is there. Even my mother’s name is not on the list. Now, only one person can vote from our family,” said Raju, a resident of Khayala village.
Polling staff was later instructed to assist those whose names were “missing”. An official posted at Khayala polling station said: “We have been instructed to allow people to cast their vote if they have a valid slip.” Even as the numbers swelled with time, the mood was generally downbeat. Most people TOI spoke to said they were disappointed with the state of their wards and would vote for candidates who they thought were “promising”. NOTA appeared to be a popular choice.
In Rajouri Garden J block, 81-year-old Jashwant Kaur came on a wheelchair to cast her vote. “I have voted in all elections. Every vote counts,” she said. She was all praise for a DU student who enthusiastically assisted her to reach the booth.
Bharat Bhushan, a polling official, said voting percentage was unimpressive till afternoon. “People started coming out of their homes later in the day and voting picked up at 3:30pm,” he said. Sunil Tuneja, who turned up at Shiela Kids Zone — one of the booths that was largely deserted through the day — said. “My children live outside Delhi; so they could not come whereas my wife is not keeping well.”
Vishwa Prabhakar, another voter whose name was missing from the list, said responsibility needed to be fixed. “No one has an answer to my problem. Where should I go now?” he asked.