GUWAHATI, April 13 � There have been serious allegations of polling officials not insisting on voters identity proof during the just-concluded Assembly polls while allowing people to vote without verifying their identity. Significantly, Guwahati itself witnessed several such anomalies.
Several citizens have complained that none of the officials concerned inside the polling stations including the presiding officer asked for any identity proof while allowing people to vote.
�I was a voter in the 189 Rukmini Nagar Girls� School polling station (for Dispur constituency) but to my utter surprise none of the persons engaged in poll duty asked for any identity proof and I was allowed to cast my vote without any question concerning my identity verification,� Dr Ramita Dhar, a city resident said, adding that such callousness could lead to dangerous consequences in a democracy.
Many more city residents have complained that they were not asked to produce any document regarding their identity at different polling stations in the city.
Those who voted at the polling station no 128 Ganesh Mandir High School, Khanapara, too had a similar experience, as the voters were not asked to show their identity proof. �I was a voter in the Ganesh Mandir High School but I was never asked to produce my identity proof, and similar was the case with most voters,� Devasish Thakur, an advocate, said.
Prof PK Dhar of Gauhati University, who was the presiding officer at the 141 Makeli LP School for the Chhaygaon constituency, said that while he, together with his polling official colleagues, had insisted on presentation of the required identity proof for each and every voter without fail, it was unfortunate that the vital practice was not followed in the metro city of Guwahati.
�The polling officials are also required to maintain a written record of the various types of identity documents shown by the voters. We did all this meticulously even though it was a time consuming exercise,� he said.
