Residents are doing everything they can to increase the number of names on the municipal voter's list, but, they said, political parties needed to stop invading their leisure time to distribute forms.
Ahead of the Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam elections, residential societies in Indirapuram are abuzz with activities for enrolling their names on the voter list. Right now, only a small portion of high-rise society residents have their names on the city’s municipal voter’s list. Earlier, residents had complained that due to the absence of their names on the list, they were unable to participate in the elections, either as voters or ward commissioners.
Speaking to City Spidey, Ajay Shukla, a resident of Ashiana Upvan, said that although his society had about a thousand residents, only a few had their names on the list. “We have been distributing forms to all residents of our society and our neighbourhood. Once the forms are filled out, they will be collected by the block level officers [BLOs]. We are trying to get as many people to vote as possible. The forms have to be submitted to the authorities between May 12 and May 15,” added Shukla.
Alok Kumar, president of Arihant Harmony in Ahinsa Khand II, told City Spidey that his society did not have a single voter for the municipality elections, while every flat owner paid house tax to the municipal corporation. “The forms are being distributed by residents and members of political parties. These will then be collected and submitted either to the BLOs or at the municipal corporation office,” added Kumar.
Ajay Sood, the general secretary of the GC Grand AOA, told City Spidey that more than 150 forms had been distributed within the society on the first day. “The form has to be duly filled and submitted with a copy of the Aadhar card and two copies passport-size photographs,” said Sood.
Sharat Jha, president of Rajhans Kutumb, said much effort is being invested in getting the names enrolled on the voter's list. Although we do not have the official list of the BLOs yet, we are already preparing the forms, so they can be submitted on time. A lot of work has to be done, as the number of already-registered residents is very little,” added Jha.
However, Sood said the race for getting voters registered had started pervading people's leisure time. Representatives of political parties had started distributing forms to parkgoers as well. “This cannot continue," said Sood. "A normal community issue unnecessarily gets a political hue and people visiting parks for relaxation may not be ready for filling out forms.”
