Hyderabad, May 18: More than 3,000 Haj pilgrims could not cast their votes in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Telangana as no arrangement was made for them to participate in the polling process through postal ballot.
It was on May 8 that the Haj pilgrims started their journey for Saudi Arabia and till May 13, the polling day, 3,235 pilgrims had left from Hyderabad. They also include pilgrims from neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka.
A request was reportedly made to the Election Commission but no arrangement was made to provide them with the facility of postal ballot.
The Election Commission had provided postal ballot facility to government employees on polling duty, voters with physical disability, service voters and journalists.
Elderly voters and those with physical disability were given the facility to cast their votes at home.
In Telangana, as many as 2,10,771 voters exercised their franchise in Voter Facilitation Centres (VFCs), Postal Voting Centres (PVCs) and through home voting. A total 1,89,091 electors on election duty cast their votes at VFCs or PVCs while 21,680 voters participated in voting at their homes.
However, lack of proper planning and coordination resulted in a large number of Haj pilgrims being deprived of their right to franchise.
As pilgrims have to report to the Haj House in Hyderabad 48 hours before their departure, more than 900 pilgrims who left on voting day also could not cast their votes. However, those who had to report to Haj House on polling day chose to cast their votes in their respective constituencies before reaching Hyderabad. A total of 43 pilgrims in Jagtial district cast their votes in early hours before leaving for Hyderabad for their onward journey to Saudi Arabia.
“It’s my obligation to perform Haj and as a citizen, it’s my duty to cast my vote to strengthen democracy,” said Ishaq Ali, one of the pilgrims who cast his vote before leaving for Hyderabad. Jagtial district collector Shaik Yasmeen Basha appreciated Haj pilgrims for casting their votes before leaving for the holy journey.
This year 8,239 pilgrims from Telangana will be performing Haj through the State Haj committee.
More than 1.75 lakh Indians are performing Haj this year. Like in Telangana, many pilgrims in other states also missed the chance of participating in the election process due to lack of postal ballot facility.
