BMC Elections 2017: My Name's Missing, Say Many Celebs As Mumbai Votes

MUMBAI: Mumbai votes today in civic polls and political parties have urged the megacity to do better than before - it has averaged 44 per cent in voter turnout for BMC elections since 1997. But among those who did turn up to vote, several complained that their names were not on voting lists.

One of them was actor Varun Dhawan. Outside a Bandra polling booth, Mr Dhawan spoke how it was "upsetting that I couldn't find my name on the voter list." But the Bollywood star said he would continue trying to figure out how he would vote in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections today.

Not giving up also was celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, who tweeted, "Spent more than an hour trying to find my name on the voters list but no luck! Any suggestions? Still have 5 more hours. I don't give up."

Politician Shaina NC of the BJP cycled early morning to her polling booth at Napansea Road but could not find her name on the voter's list.

But she later tweeted in response to reports that she was not able to vote, "Not true friends, I did vote." It turned out that she could not find her name "due to an error in the printed list". But "the authorities were helpful" and they could finally spot her name.

In the run-up to the civil polls, several BJP leaders including Ms Shaina had pedalled across the city to campaign for the party that had decided against a pre-election alliance with the Shiv Sena. "We have been cycling all over Mumbai and the idea is to get maximum people to come out and vote," she said, urging people to vote for "a better Mumbai".

And many did heed such calls. Why, they even checked the voters list that had been put out by the authorities to let people check their names in advance, and turn up at the right polling booths. But they still had to return, disappointed.

"Voted in 2014. Name not on the list this year. Can't Vote," complained flim director Anubhav Sinha on Twitter, pointing how his entire office had tried searching online for their names. "Nothing."

This isn't the first time that a large number of people couldn't find their names in the voters' list in the state. In 2014, the Election Commission - that conducted the Lok Sabha General Elections - had apologised to voters in Maharashtra for missing tens of thousands of names. Municipal elections are conducted by the state election commission.

Filmmaker & social activist Ashoke Pandit did find his name, and voted, but said it was "sad" that people still had to struggle to make it to the voters' list. Mr Pandit suggested political parties should first fix the voters' list instead of spending crores on campaigning.