Poll panel chief falls prey to list goof-up

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla found his name in two electoral rolls whereas many across India had complained of their names going missing from the voters’ list. HT Correspondent reports.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla found his name in two electoral rolls whereas many across India had complained of their names going missing from the voters’ list.

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Chawla, who took over as CEC on April 21, had detected his wife Rupika’s name in the rolls of booths no 85 and 86. On February 5, he informed the Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer about the anomaly and wanted his name and that of his wife to be deleted from the voter’s list of booth no 85.

Subsequently, he was informed that Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) told him that their names in booth no 85 were deleted from the final rolls. On Thursday, when he reached polling station in Nirman Bhawan at noon, he found his and his wife’s names in both booths, which was rectified later. “It was a clerical error,” Chawla said, after casting his vote.

Chawla, however, appealed to voters to come and vote and said: “Voting is not only about a candidate or a party, it is also a vote for democracy.”