LUCKNOW: In a major gaffe’ the Gorakhpur administration was stumped on Friday when it found the name of Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli registered as a voter for upcoming Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypolls.
A voter slip, bearing the photo of the cricketer was issued in the name of Kohil, a resident of Delhi, showing him as a voter registered under Sahajanwa Assembly segment with voter number 822. The Lok Sabha bypolls is scheduled to be held in Gorakhpur on March 11.
Taking cognizance of the issue, Gorakhpur District Magistrate ordered a probe and initiated action against the SDM and the election officer concerned. “We have asked Sahjanwa SDM Pankaj Srivastava to submit a detailed report in this regard. Strict action will be taken against whosoever will be found is responsible for the goof up. Orders have been issued to the officials concerned to check other anomalies also if any,” said deputy. district election officer Prabhunath. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Pankaj Srivastava, meanwhile, said an investigation was underway into the mix-up.
In fact, the error was spotted by a booth-level officer (BLO) Sunita Chaubey when she was given the slips to be distributed to the voters around five days ago. As per the voter slip, Kohli’s name with his picture was registered at serial number 822 under election area number 324 of Sahjanwa assembly segment in Gorakhpur parliamentary area. “On getting the slip, I cross checked his name with the voters’ list. But i brought it to the notice of officials concerned,” said BLO Chaube.
“We have taken serious notice of the issue and the primary probe has been done. It exposes the lackadaisical approach of Sahjanwa SDM and election officer while upgrading the voters’ list and issuing the slips,” said Gorakhpur DM Rajeev Rautela adding that action against the two officers had already been initiated.
Bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur will be held on March 11 and the counting of votes will be held on March 14. There are 10 candidates in the fray from Gorakhpur, while there are 22 candidates contesting from Phulpur. According to the Election Commission, there are 19.49 lakh voters in Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency, while 19.61 lakh in Phulpur parliamentary constituency.