The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections got underway in Mumbai early on Tuesday morning, with voters turning out in droves to elect councillors to 227 seats in the civic body. However, many people — including Badrinath Ki Dulhania actor Varun Dhawan — have not been able to vote because their names are not on the voters' list.
He seemed to be on the same boat as fashion designer-turned-politician Shaina NC, who initially could not find her name in the voters' list, but managed to vote later after personnel at the polling booth helped her complete some formalities. Varun Dhawan, however, had no such luck, and later told reporters: "It's bizarre, because I voted last year. I will find out from the EC [Election Commission] where my name is."
Here are 4 reasons why Varun Dhawan and others could not vote for the BMC elections:
1. Name not on January voter list: The EC often strikes people's names off the voter list for various reasons, and later publishes the list well before the elections. Any person not finding their name on the list can then approach the EC to have their name reinserted in the list. In case of the BMC elections, the list came out in January this year. Varun Dhawan should have checked this list and ensured his name was there.
2. Delimitation causes new voting limits: The boundaries of several of the 227 wards under the BMC have been changed recently, and some voters have been reassigned to new wards. This could have been one of the reasons people did not find their names in the polling booths where they regularly vote.
3. Change of polling booths: With the delimitation of wards and changing of their boundaries, some voters have also been reassigned to new polling booths. With 7,304 polling stations across the BMC limits, one can be forgiven if he or she lands up at the wrong one and has a tough time finding the right polling booth.
4. No voter slips: As part of the BMC election process, the Maharashtra EC has issued voter slips to prospective voters. Non-receipt of these slips is an indication that something is wrong, and that the EC should be approached. It is not known yet if Varun Dhawan received this voter slip.
