Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Right to Information/ Transparency/ Accountability/ Right to Hearing | RTI campaign to root out bogus voting by Paul John

RTI campaign to root out bogus voting by Paul John

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Aug 18, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 18, 2011

AHMEDABAD: A silent revolution has just begun in Rangpar village of Wankaner taluka and its surrounding villages toward sanitizing voters list using RTI. Leading this campaign is Ratna Ala, a resident who is visually challenged and passionate about RTI.

In December next year the state will go to the polls for another round of high voltage assembly elections. But seven people from Rangpar , who are now joining hands with like-minded responsible voters in surrounding villages, have been on a mission for the last six months to sift bogus voters from the lists. Most bogus voters the team found were either absent from the village or dead for the last 17 years and that someone was casting bogus votes in their name.

In this quaint village there were about 671 voters out of which 154 turned out to be bogus voters - which is almost 25% of the total voters of Rangapar. Seven persons were found out to be dead, 10 did not have photographs against their names, while the remaining 137 were missing from the village for between 17-20 years. The seven applicants, Kala Karsanbhai , Matra Amabhai, Shyamala Samad, Gabru Ratanbhai , Modhbhai Ughadbhai have now have fanned out to neighbouring villages of Mesaria, Jalida, Samadia, Balagam and Garida demanding the list of voters under RTI.

Ratna Ala says, "As the assembly election approaches, some of my colleagues and neighbours had resolved to file RTI applications to sift out bogus voters. It is these bogus votes that tilt the game. In panchayat elections there is 100 per cent voting in all Gujarat villages including mine. Imagine for the last 17- 20 years 25 per cent of the votes cast in my village were bogus. I can imagine what the situation would be in other villages in Wankaner taluka. My friends then decided that we would go to every village and ask people to file RTIs and demand voters lists," says Ala.

Ala and his friends also demanded information on the procedures undertaken by the sarpanch and the local talati to strike bogus names off the voters list. "Many times the talati in collusion with the sarpanch does not declare these bogus votes as these names are useful when bogus votes have to be cast in the last two hours of the voting - both in assembly or panchayat elections. I hope the state election commission or election commission of India does something about it as we have one more year to go before assembly elections," says Karsanbhai.
 
 
The Times of India, 18 August, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/9643956.cms  

The Times of India, 18 August, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/9643956.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close