BARGARH: Miffed over missing names in the voters’ list, villagers of Kharmunda gram panchayat (GP) in Attabira detained a polling party with ballot boxes and staged dharna in front of the booth on Friday.Villagers alleged that names of over 40 per cent voters in the GP are missing from the list. Many villagers who reached the polling booth at Kharmunda to vote, could not find their names in the list and were asked to wait outside the booth. In a few hours, a large number of voters whose names were missing from the list had gathered outside the booth.
When the polling was about to end, villagers went on to verify the list and found hundreds of names missing. Irked, the villagers detained the polling personnel and did not let them take the ballot boxes out of the booth. They also staged protest outside.
Brushabhanu Sahu, a 70-year-old voter, said his name was also missing from the list. “Names of over 800 villagers have been omitted from the voters’ list. We should not be deprived of our right to vote because of the negligence of officials. In the past, villagers had requested the authorities concerned for revision of the list but no action was taken. We will continue to protest till those who have been left out from the list, are allowed to cast their vote,” Sahu added.
Till reports last came in, the villagers were staging dharna outside the polling booth. Contacted, Bargarh Sub-Collector Subhendra Kumar Samal said it is yet to be ascertained how many names are missing from the list. “However, we have informed the higher authorities about the matter. The officials concerned will take a decision in this regard,” he said.