Names missing from voter list, allege residents
Despite exercising their franchise in the 2024 Assembly elections, several residents found their names missing from the voter list of the Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC).
Congress mayoral candidate Manoj Wadhwa’s wife, Asha Wadhwa, raised the issue with Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC)-cum-Returning Officer (RO) Yash Jaluka, alleging electoral mismanagement in the MC poll. “We have raised the issue with the ADC as several voters could not exercise their franchise despite being registered in the voter list. This is a deliberate attempt to manipulate the elections,” alleged Wadhwa.
She accused the ruling party of influencing the authorities to suppress voter participation. “Everyone knows who controls the municipal corporation. They are afraid of losing and are deliberately ensuring lower voter turnout, as it directly benefits them,” she alleged. Citing a specific incident in Ward no. 9, she claimed that two Congress supporters who arrived at the polling booth with their slips were stopped from voting.
“Inside the polling station, they were told that their names were not on the list, despite having voter slips. They came back to us, completely disheartened,” she said.
Similar complaints were received from different parts of the city. Shivani, a first-time voter, said she went to a polling booth at Government Senior Secondary School in Model Town with her voter card. “My name was in the voter list of political parties, but it was missing from the Election Commission’s list,” she said.
Sher Singh, a resident of Sector-6, highlighted additional issues, including change of booths. “I had cast my vote at booth No. 69 in the recently held Assembly elections, but when I reached there this time, my booth number had changed. I had to go to another school,” he said. Refuting the allegations, ADC Yash Jaluka said elections were conducted based on the voter lists updated until September 12, 2024. “There was time to raise objections and complaints. The elections were conducted as per the voter lists of the Election Commission,” he said.
