Vadodara: He was a foot soldier working on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, to ensure that only eligible voters get to vote. He never imagined that he would soon have to defend his own right to vote. A booth-level officer (BLO) here was in for a surprise when he was told by a counterpart that an objection had been filed to the inclusion of his name on the voter list. While the BLO was assured that his name would not be deleted, his case became a talking point about the way objections were raised.
The BLO, Imtiaz Sheikh, was registered in the Vadodara City assembly constituency. It figured at Serial Number 588 of Part 160 of the electoral roll. Sheikh, a resident of the Fatepura area of the city, also had a Voter ID card. “Another BLO told me about the objection raised against my vote. Some youths in our area who were keeping track of the process also told me about the objection,” said Sheikh. Sheikh’s case also came to the notice of the city unit of the Congress party, which used it as a case in point to prove its arguments that objections were submitted to election officials in bulk by a few persons. The party also highlighted the case. City unit president Rutvij Joshi said they met the collector with Sheikh and made representations. Sheikh was assured that his name would not be deleted. The Congress claimed the objection was raised by VMC councillor Ajit Dadhich. It alleged that Dadhich had objected to several other names too. Dadhich said the Congress was making false allegations against him. “They have no other issue and hence are raising this,” he said.
