Mehndi lagake rakhna!

Chennai, May 8 (UNI) The importance of indelible ink as a measure to prevent bogus voting is frequently expressed by election officers.

But in a booth in Thousand Lights constituency here today, when a woman voter stretched out her left arm for the inerasable ink to be marked on her finger, only a dot was placed instead of the 'line' that election officials have prescribed. The woman questioned the person who placed the imprint, to which the lady official replied, 'you put marudani (mehendi) on your fingers if you want!' X X X What can women with small children do when they want to vote and do not have anyone to leave their wards with? This piquant situation arose in T Nagar Assembly constituency here today. The woman was initially let inside the polling booth but when the indelible ink was put on her left forefinger, the child raised a hue and cry, asking for the ink to be put on his hand too.

This prompted the staff on duty to tick off the woman, who, duly chastised, quietened the boy and then voted.

• In a booth in Kottivakkam in South Chennai, a man kicked a bucket, rather a pot, full of drinking voter meant for voters. He entered the booth seeking some clarification, and inadvertently kicked the plastic pot full of water, flooding the place. In an area that witnessed severe floods during the last rains, this caused some consternation, even as the man profusely apologised, saying he had poor eyesight! It took some time for the staff to clean up! X X X Something more serious happened in Villivakkam constituency, the largest in Chennai. In a booth in Virugambakkam area, the crowd was such that the polling officials could not cope with the pile-up of voter identity cards for checking. They asked voters to proceed to the next table to sign their names, nullifying the whole purpose for which voter cards are used. This angered many voters.

  In another contravention of rules, in Royapuram and R K Nagar constituencies in North Chennai, cell phones were freely used by voters standing in the queue. The Election Commission had given strict orders that banning cell phone useage within a particular radius near the polling booths, but no one seemed concerned.

  Voters were told this election that if they did not want to vote, they could fill up a form, 49(O), stating they did not wish to exercise their franchise in favour of any candidate. One Veliangiri wanted to use this option in a constituency in Coimbatore District and asked for the form. He was told it was unavailable. An irate Mr Veliangiri registered a complaint with the Revenue District Officer, Mr Karunakaran.

  Determination is all. A 35-year-old woman who came to exercise her franchise at a booth in Palladam consituency was told by some party agents there that the address in her photo identity card differed from the address in the voters' slip given by political parties and so she could not vote. The lady, Baby Subramaniam, left the booth, went outside and brought the voters list prepared by other political party agents. It was the Election Commission which had printed the street name wrong, and as she proved this, she was then allowed to vote.

  Election Presiding Officer Pushparaj was shifted from the Government School Booth at Big Bazaar Street, Coimbatore (West) constituency, on the complaint that he was chatting with voters in the queue about the political scenario in the state.

  In Thorkupalli village booth under Avinashi constituency, 204 people had to return without voting as their names were missing from the list, despite their having the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) with them.

  UNI