MUMBAI: With the draft electoral roll having been published in Maharashtra, a total of 1.22 crore voters statewide are at risk of being disenfranchised. Among them 62.48 lakh voters have discrepancies in relatives’ details, while 59.75 lakh cannot be linked to a relative in previous rolls.Lakhs of citizens are moving to address such ‘logical discrepancies’ and ‘anomalies’ in the voters’ list. This includes spelling mistakes, inadequate personal details or remaining unmapped.Several voters are complaining that the booth level officers (BLOs) appointed by the state election commission (EC) are not visiting their homes.The EC had assured that BLOs would visit door-to-door — instead voters are being called to BLO offices to furnish documents. Senior citizens find this tough. A Borivli voter who received a notice chose to not attend, believing that the BLO would arrive in his premises.In another case Manmohan Bahadur, a retired air vice marshal of the Indian Air Force, posted TOI’s report on the Maharashtra EC’s assurance that voters would not need to appear in person and that the BLO would collect documents.Bahadur wrote on X, “This is not true. I had to visit the BLO, as asked, and have been given a notice for a hearing at an appointed place where I have to produce my documents.” He urged the EC to revisit its press statement.In one housing society located near TISS in Deonar, 30 people have received notices.An elderly resident said, “My name was on the electoral list but only my initials were mentioned not full name. The same was the case with my son. The EC notice termed it a ‘mismatch’ and asked me to visit the BLO’s office to submit birth certificates and other documents. I went on Monday afternoon and deposited both our papers. But this process is certainly inconvenient for senior citizens. And why do they require more documents than we have already submitted?”However, EC officials say that BLOs are “fatigued with the long SIR period in the state” and “citizens should cooperate if they sit in the building society office or a nearby location instead of going door to door”. They say that in several cases “residents are not at home or do not open the door”.However, certain BLOs have been making a sincere effort. A BLO who is assigned Jogeshwari West said, “There are 102 cases of ‘anomalies’ in my jurisdiction. I visited four people door-to-door just today [Monday], because old persons find it hard to travel to our camps. I know all their homes. Just 14 cases are left — the rest I have completed already. Where they were not available I have left notes and left messages with their children.” Interestingly BLOs say it is voters who fail to answer calls.
