Opposition parties along with a section of the ruling BJD are crying foul over erratic enumeration of voters for the Rourkela Municipal Election even as the process for verification of existing voters and inclusion of new voters is underway.
As per the preliminary electoral rolls, nearly 15,000 voters enlisted for 2008 elections have been excluded though the population in all 33 wards of the municipality has grown manifold in five years.
Sources said names of many bona fide voters have been excluded while undeserving voters from adjacent rural areas included due to interference of local leaders.
The Opposition leaders alleged that the entire electoral registration system is at fault with little accountability of enumerators. They pointed out that the enumerators are not given adequate time to make door-to-door visit during the vast exercise. They end up relying on previous electoral rolls of the Assembly segment and randomly include or exclude voters under the influence of unscrupulous local leaders of all parties.
A senior BJD leader, on condition of anonymity, said it has come to his notice that above 500 fake voters from adjacent panchayat have been included in Ward nos 28 and 29. Similar effort is underway to include around 400 fresh voters in Ward-33. Also, names of roadside vendors appear twice at their place of work and residence.
BJD vice-chairman of the municipality RN Mishra said civic body employees are engaged in all wards to verify the voters. As the voters’ lists do not contain addresses of the voters, verification has become a cumbersome affair, he added.
Rourkela District Congress Committee (RDCC) president Nihar Ray said names of several genuine voters are either deleted or unlawfully shifted to other wards. Panposh unit BJP president Dhiren Senapati also alleged similar anomalies.
Sundargarh Collector Roopa Sahoo said instructions have been issued to officers concerned to monitor the process effectively.
