Celebrated Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta claimed that her name has gone missing from the electoral list even as the polling in 119 assembly constituencies in Telangana started amid elaborate arrangements on Friday.
Gutta, 35, took to micro-blogging site Twitter to share her "surprise", and wrote: "Surprised to see my name disappear from the voting list after checking online!! #whereismyvote."
In another tweet, she questioned the fairness of the election when "names are mysteriously disappearing from the list".
She sought to know why her name was deleted as she has been residing at the same residence for the past 12 years. If the names are deleted, the concerned persons should definitely be informed, she said.
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Gutta said her mother was, however, able to vote. Her father Kranti Gutta told PTI that Jwala's name was found in the voters' list around one month ago. He claimed his attempt to enrol online as a voter was not successful.
The concerned polling station is in Banjara Hills in the city, he said.
Gutta has won several medals, including in the Commonwealth Games.
Her tweets created a social media storm with many voters coming up with their own ordeals while also blaming the Election Commission of India (EC) for irresponsible work.
Here are some reactions:
Meanwhile, India coach Pullela Gopichand and world number two women's singles player PV Sindhu have exercised their voting rights.
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For the first time, the EC is using Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in Telangana. The polling started at 7 a.m. and will conclude at 5 PM, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected where the process ends at 4 PM.
