70 lakh to vote for new BBMP council

BENGALURU: Undeterred by political uncertainty over the city civic polls, the State Election Commission has revised the electoral rolls and prepared the ground for over 70 lakh voters to exercise their franchise, if BBMP elections are held. Former BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana said the number of voters, compared to the 2010 elections, has gone up by 8 lakh to 10 lakh."Thanks to the continuous voter registration drives conducted by the Election Commission, the number of voters has seen a considerable jump. Those who still don't have their names in the list or want to make changes in their voter card entries, can even now go ahead and do it at designated places," he added. A senior official with the State Election Commission said voters can check for their names on the revised electoral list published on the website http:bbmp.gov.in "As per rules, eligible voters' names can be included in the voters' list and changes made till the final day of filing of nominations for elections.The exact dates and related details will be announced on Monday," he added. Urban expert Suresh K said there needs to be greater publicity from the EC and BBMP when it comes to voters' registration. "With civic polls this time being held in a hurry and most of the action revolving around politics, voters have been ignored. There should be more voter facilitation centres and technology-assisted platforms to help residents register. Otherwise, it demotivates the masses who may stay away from participating in the polls itself," he explained. -TOI