A 75-year old woman reached the polling centre at the Gujarati School in Raipur to exercise her franchise on Thursday, the way she had been doing for last several elections.However, Amna Begum was in for a shock when the polling officials refused permission to her to exercise her franchise on the ground that the voter list showed her ‘dead’.
Begum who had been to the polling centre braving scorching heat said she had cast her vote not only in the past several elections, but also in the same booth for the Assembly elections which were held in November last year.
She also showed her voter Id card. The polling agents of both BJP and the Congress who were present at the booth told her that her name had figured in the voters list but was deleted.
Begum’s son who accompanied her told the media that the Commission has deleted her name and showed her as ‘dead’ in the list despite the fact that she is alive and is in good health.
After being hurt over the episode, Begum said she will not take food unless and until she was allowed to exercise her franchise. She also refused to return home. The Presiding Officer was also informed about her grievance.
However, she was not able to vote until the afternoon. She was seen waiting at the booth along with her family members.