Indian cricket legend Bishen Singh Bedi underwent a terrible experience which he described as 'humiliating' when trying to vote in the Lok Sabha elections underway. In a tweet, the former left-arm spinner wrote: "Am terribly saddened/ashamed that our Acknowledgment/Receipts Dt 24/2/'19 shown below did not have our voting names in polling booth..I didn't know where to look as Polling Officials & Police were busy taking 'selfies'-Never felt so humiliated..all fr the sake of Indn Democracy!"
This message was attached to a photograph showing the receipts mentioned in it. Bedi, who is known to be forthright in expressing his views put out this tweet on the evening of May 12 after voting for the sixth and penultimate phase of polling in the 2019 General Elections had ended.
This incident, if it is entirely true, would cause huge embarrassment to the authorities managing the booth as well as the political class since two prominent sportspersons – BJP's Gautam Gambhir and Congress' Vijender Singh – contesting from separate constituencies in the capital city of India – where the former Test captain is based.
After a large number of people found their names deleted from the voting rolls in Telengana during last year's state Assembly elections, such incidents, if true, make Indian authorities look poor. Especially if they are busy taking selfies and not helping out voters.
Reactions
There was great response on Twitter itself to Bedi's sharing of his ordeal. But views seem to be divided on what happened or who is at fault. Cricketer Manoj Tiwary wrote "Very sad and angry. Can't digest the fact our national icon has been treated like this" on his timeline in response to the veteran Test cricketer's tweet.
But there were some people who saw things in a different light as well. A user named Kamal responded to the tweet by describing it as "propaganda" and saying "Should have gone to any booth maned by political parties and would have known the actual polling booth in 5 minutes." This user also attached a photograph of what seems to be the name of the legendary cricketer's wife, Inderjeet Kaur Bedi in the digital version of the electoral roll, which also contains details of the constituency of Delhi and the booth where the couple are supposed to vote. Only time will tell who is at fault.
