As Karnataka began polling in 14 constituencies on April 26 in Phase 2 of the Lok Sabha election, most polling booths in Bengaluru witnessed long queues from 6.30 a.m. Most of those in queue seemed to have come after their morning walk. Many senior citizens also made a beeline in the early hours of voting.
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“I have come to cast my vote after my morning walk. After 11 a.m., it would be very difficult due to the heat,” said Narasimhaiah, a resident of Kodigehalli.
A polling official in Sahakar Nagar spoke of long queues from morning, and that this is the usual trend during most polling days. “Those who are enthusiastic about casting their vote, those who go for morning walks, and those working in private firms tend to vote first. This time, the heat and rising mercury seems to have added to the morning queues. We expect crowds to thin out after 11 a.m.,” she said.
Santosh, 34, a resident of Doddabommasandra, came in a wheelchair, accompanied by his father Ashwath Narayana, to cast his vote. “We did not know about the facility of vote from home, and how to register for the same. I have never missed a vote,” Santosh told The Hindu.
His father Ashwath Narayana welcomed the facility for persons with disabilities to cast their vote from home, and intends to get his son registered for the same for the next elections. The entire family had come to the polling booth in an autorickshaw. “It is a struggle for him [his son] to get into an autorickshaw,” he said.
A frail Sugnanamurthy, 74, who came to the polling booth in Bagalur with the help of a walker, said that the Election Commission of India should consider providing vote-from-Home facility to senior citizens even below the age of 85. “I understand if they lower the age from 85, the government will have a large population to deal with. Maybe, instead of officials coming home to get our votes, people like me should be allowed to exercise our franchise through postal ballot. It is an ordeal to come, stand in a line here and vote. At the same time, I do not want to skip voting. I have never missed a vote,” he said.
Senior citizens are being given priority in the queues, and let in first to cast their vote at most of the polling booths.
Akkayyamma, 48, a resident of Jalahalli said that though she had voted in the same booth during last year’s assembly elections, officials now claim her name is not there in the electoral rolls. She doesn’t have an EPIC card and has come to vote with an Aadhar card. “First they said my name may have shifted. I searched many booths, but did not find my name. They say they cannot tell where my vote is based on my Aadhar number. Earlier, political parties used to distribute voter slips, which has not been the case this time,” she said.
People struggle at polling booths as voter slips not distributed across Bengaluru
This time, political parties are not distributing voter slips in all areas. This has led to a lot of confusion at polling booths. Many voters turned up at the booths without knowing the room number and part number. Many of them were not even equipped with EPIC cards or numbers, and most of them only had their Aadhaar cards.
Agents of political parties, seated 100 metres away from polling booths, were having a tough time locating the part number of each voter based on either their name, phone number or Aadhaar number.
“No party has distributed voter slips this time. We are distributing them here to those who come to us. There are many apps, like Electoral Search and Voter Helpline, using which it is very easy to locate the part number of a voter. But not many are aware of these apps, and many aren’t proficient in navigating these apps. So, we are doing it for them,” said Mahesh T., an agent of BJP in Bengaluru North Lok Sabha constituency.
Star voters
Voters in the queues included Team India cricket coach Rahul Dravid, Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayan Murthy, his wife and Rajya Sabha member Sudha Narayan Murthy, Bengaluru South BJP candidate Tejaswi Surya, BJP candidate in Bengaluru North Shobha Karandlaje, former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, former Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, and Energy Minister K.J. George.
Film personalities who cast their votes early included Sri Murali, Ganesh, Amoolya, Raghavendra Rajkumar, Vinay Rajkumar, Yuva Rajkumar, and Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar.
Queue tapers off after noon
While the early hours of the morning saw long queues outside polling stations, the rising summer temperature kept most voters away as noon approached. Those who visited polling stations after noon reported that they cast their vote in no time without having to stand in a queue, or even waiting. It remains to be seen if the turnout will pick up towards the evening, when the temperature declines.
Long queues in Electronics City
In Electronics City, voters endured queues lasting over two hours. According to residents, the Election Commission failed to adequately arrange facilities for a smoother voting experience.
Pranay Dubey, president of Electronic City Rising, told The Hindu that at the Doddanagamangala polling station, people stood in queue for hours under the scorching sun. Electronic City Rising posted a video of people standing in long queues on X.
“Many returned home due to the lengthy queues. This isn’t the first time. Similar scenes occurred during the May 2023 Assembly polls. Such experiences deter voting. The Election Commission needs to enhance resources and streamline the voting process for citizens,” Mr. Dubey added.
Complaints of names missing from list of voters
Complaints of names missing from voters’ lists surfaced again.
In Bengaluru Central constituency, in a polling booth in Indiranagar, a woman was seen making frantic calls and approaching the polling officials in a huff after she being informed that her mother’s name is not in the rolls.
Many voters in Chickpet and Akkipet alleged that hundreds of names had been deleted from the list of voters.
“Our names were in the list of voters during the Assembly elections in Karnataka in May 2023, and we had voted. But, on Friday, when we went to the polling booth, our names could not be found in the list of voters,” one of them alleged.
If there are six votes in a family, the names of three to four voters were deleted from the list. They complained that, in total, the names of more than a hundred persons had been deleted from the list of voters this time.
Sajjan Raj Mehta, trade activist, told The Hindu, “In democracy, denying the basic right to vote is a crime. The right to vote need to be provided to citizens if valid ID cards are furnished,” he said.
