Voters Fume as Cops, ECI Prevent Phones

Hyderabad: Many voters across constituencies were in for a rude shock on Thursday as polling officials refused to allow voters to carry along their mobile phones into polling booths.

This led to confrontations between voters and police, snowballing into arguments in some instances, as the police refused any leeway.

While polling officials said that it was advertised in advance that cellphones would not be allowed inside polling stations, citizens responded by saying that their Aadhaar cards were on their phones and the same was required to establish their identity.

In some cases, voters simply walked away.

A voter, Veena, who voted under the Goshamahal constituency, said she and a friend were surprised to be barred entry with phones. “We both were in the same situation. Luckily, my driver was there and we both stored our mobiles with him,” she said.

Arvind Kumar said, “Nowadays, everything is connected with the mobile phone. As we are booking our commute through app-based aggregators, we cannot leave behind mobile phones at home. They should make provisions.”

Some Good Samaritans came to the rescue of voters, offering to safekeep their phones until they could cast their votes.

H. Sailatha, who helped out fellow voters at Nehru Park polling station in Sanathnagar constituency, said: “People are facing a lot of difficulty as most of them are carrying phones. The booth is just in front of my home and since I noticed this problem, offered to keep the phones with me.”