Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat faced an unexpected situation on Thursday when his name was found missing from the voters' list during the municipal elections in the state.
The Congress veteran, a long-time resident of Dehradun, discovered this issue when he went to cast his vote in the city’s Niranjanpur area, where he has been registered as a voter since 2009.
Rawat, who had previously voted from the same polling station during the federal elections earlier this year and the 2022 Assembly elections, expressed his disappointment over the incident.
He revealed that despite waiting at the polling station, officials informed him that his name was not on the list, leaving him unable to vote.
Speaking to the media, Rawat criticised the ruling BJP, alleging their involvement in voter list manipulations. He remarked, "I should have been more alert... knowing they are involved in adding and removing names from the list."
Rawat also reported the issue to the State Election Commission but was told that a computer server malfunction was responsible for the error, leaving no immediate solution.
The municipal elections in Uttarakhand are being conducted for 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipal councils, and 46 Nagar Panchayats. These elections hold significance as they are seen as a reflection of public sentiment towards the ruling BJP government ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who leads the BJP government in Uttarakhand, urged voters to come out in large numbers and support BJP candidates.
In his appeal, Dhami highlighted the importance of strengthening the "double-engine government" under BJP’s leadership and called for the formation of a "triple-engine government" to further development in the state.
Rawat’s situation has raised questions about the accuracy and reliability of the voters' list and the overall election management system in Uttarakhand. The incident has sparked criticism from the Congress party, which views it as a failure of the BJP government to ensure a fair and transparent electoral process.
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