Yet again, 1,600 Mahul residents unable to vote

On Monday, Ramjit Gupta, 50, finished half of his courier delivery assignments, skipped lunch and decided to use this time instead, to exercise his fundamental right to vote. But he was in for a shock as his name was not on the voter list. And he was one among 1,600 others who found themselves in a similar predicament.

This disappointed lot mostly comprised project-affected persons (PAPs), who have been shifted to Mahul village, termed as Mumbai's toxic hell. Incidentally, these residents had declared during the Lok Sabha poll that they would not vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in future elections.

According to Gupta, he started his day as usual. "I woke up early and went to office. Picked up all the couriers I had to deliver for the day. I first went to nearby areas like Ghatkopar, Chembur and Kurla and then decided to use my lunch break to go and vote," Gupta told The Free Press Journal.

"I skipped lunch and went to Ghatkopar, where I lived before being shifted to the toxic hell, Mahul. I stood in the queue for hours and when it was my turn, much to my disappointment, I was told I could not vote, as my name was missing from the list," Gupta said.

Gupta further said, the names of most of his family members too were missing. "This list does mention the names of my old parents, wife, son and daughter. Even the names of my brother and sister-in-law are missing, but surprisingly, the names of my nephew and niece were there," Gupta said.

According to residents, the election commission has deleted names without following the proper mechanism. All these PAPs are not registered at Mahul, but at their original place of residence. "There are many cases wherein names of only some members of a family are included," said another resident Sanjay Rajoria, 43.

Rajoria, a share broker, said, he has been denied his right to vote. "I cancelled a visit to my village, where I had to go for a wedding and decided to stay back in Mumbai, so that I could vote," he said.

"I went with my wife to the polling booth early in the morning, so that we could vote early and leave for the wedding by noon. But we were shocked to see our names missing from the voters' list. I personally checked but could not find our names. It is truly shocking," Rajoria added.

The manner in which the names of Mahul residents have suddenly gone missing from the records has raised eyebrows of the voters in this area. They allege the government has deliberately deleted their records.

"I think this is a strategy of the government to delete their names from the constituencies where the originally lived. The government is forcing them to enrol at Mahul," said Bilal Pathan, who is spearheading the movement for the safety of Mahul residents.

"The government only wants these residents to enrol at Mahul to prove in the courts that these residents have accepted living in Mahul," Pathan added. Currently, most residents refused to live here because of the appalling conditions in the area; the issue is before the Bombay High Court.