Thousands of bogus votes cast in Rajouri
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, November 23
In the absence of proper verifying process, thousands of bogus votes were cast in all four constituencies of Rajouri district, which went to polls today.

The Tribune team, which visited the constituencies (Rajouri, Darhal, Nowshera and Kalakote), found children (below 18 years) casting votes. Even those who didn’t qualify to vote from the constituency voted without fear.

At Nadiyaan polling station, 16-year-old Asgar Ali of Reikibaan came to cast the vote of his brother Rashid Hussain, (who is in Srinagar pursuing engineering course) bearing number 356 in the voter list.

When asked why he is doing it, he replied: “Though not eligible, why should I waste my brother’s vote?”

Around hundred non-state subject voters, especially labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, also cast their votes today across the four constituencies.

A labourer from Dharbanga district in Bihar, who didn’t disclose his name, cast the vote of one Naresh Kumar having number 596 in the voters’ list at Dhandidaar polling station of Rajouri assembly segment.

“Though I know it is illegal to cast other person’s vote, it hardly matters when I am getting money for it,” a non-state subject labourer said asking not to be named.

Meanwhile, this correspondent, who is from Bhadarwah tehsil in Doda district and doesn’t qualify as a voter here, managed to get a voting slip of one Ghani Shyam having number 548 in the voters’ list at Government Higher Secondary School (Boys) Rajouri, but didn’t cast the vote because it would have been illegal.

These are not isolated cases where bogus voters managed to cast votes. There
have been reports of thousands of such people (non-qualifying and underage),
who voted illegally.

Talking over the phone, B.R. Sharma, chief electoral officer, said: “We will verify
these reports.”

Regarding non-verification of the identity of the voters by the election staff, he added that there are 17 different documents by which the identity of the voters could be verified.