The name of Kamla Advani, the deceased wife of senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, figures in the voters’ list in Gujarat, calling into the question the Election Commission’s vetting process.
Kamla died on April 6, 2016 in New Delhi. However, the voters’ list in Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur Khadiya assembly constituency, which went to polls today, still has her name. LK Advani cast his vote here today.
The list shows Advani as voter No. 324 while his late wife Kamla is voter No. 325.
The Election Commission is supposed to revise the voters’ list prior to every election. Booth Level Officers (BLO) are supposed to hold house-to-house visit to verify voters’ list ahead of the elections. According to election experts, Outlook spoke to, the appearance of a person’s name in the list more than one year after her death shows a serious lapse.
Advertisement
Over 29 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling today for the 93 seats in the second phase in north and central Gujarat regions.
"A voter turnout of 29.30 per cent has been recorded till 12 pm. While the highest turnout of 36.56 per cent was registered in Mehsana district, the lowest polling of 23.92 per cent took place in Ahmedabad district," Election Commission officials said.
There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) at some places in Aravalli and Panchmahal districts, they said.
Polling in the 93 seats has been proceeding peacefully, the officials said.
