The Hindu : National : 200 hospitalised after taking `peda' on voting day

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

National

National

200 hospitalised after taking `peda' on voting day

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, OCT. 13. An otherwise dull voting day in Mumbai turned dramatic this afternoon when over 200 people, some of them Congress-Nationalist Congress Party workers, from the sensitive Nagpada area in South Mumbai were admitted to J.J. and Nair hospitals with acute food poisoning.

Doctors said these people had been affected after eating "pedas" distributed in certain localities in the area. However, none of them was critically ill and their condition was stable.

Wards at the J.J. Hospital were crammed with those affected, some of them children. Mohammed Zia, 18, said he ate "pedas" while doing duty as a polling agent on Undriya Street in Nagpada. "I felt dizzy and vomited many times and someone brought me here." On the next bed, Sheikh Maqsood Mohammed could barely speak, as he was too weak after repeated bouts of nausea. "Someone brought packets of sweets to various places in Nagpada. We don't know who distributed these sweets," said Ishtiaq Ahmed.

Azim Ibrahim, a Congress party worker, said: "The Shiv Sena is probably responsible for distributing the sweets and when we complained, police attacked us. Only Muslims are affected. This has been done to prevent voting in our area, which is a Congress stronghold." However, no tension was reported from the area after the incident.

In the Dagdi Chawl area, home of local don Arun Gawli, who is contesting from the Chinchpokli Assembly segment, voters are certain that Gawli will win. Gawli himself stepped out of his fortress and cast his vote soon after polling began.

Missing names

Polling agents here said there were few complaints from voters about their names not being on the list, but in areas such as Dharavi, Mahim and Kurla many voters were shocked to find their names deleted. Many residents here complained their names were not on the list though they had voter ID cards. In certain areas such as Mahim and Dharavi, polling agents said that 25 per cent of the people could not vote as their names were missing.

In Dadar, a Sena stronghold, voter turnout was low because two days ago supporters of the Congress candidate, Rajan Bhonsale had allegedly been beaten up by Sena workers. Sada Sarvankar, the Sena candidate, was arrested in connection with the assault but released on bail.

However, in other areas issues dominated. In the Dalit-dominated Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, for instance, people still remember the incident a few years ago when 11 persons were killed in police firing. Nandkumar Garud, a resident, said there was no justice and the police officer responsible for the incident has still not been punished. "What has the Sena MLA done here? This time we will vote for the Dalit candidate on the Bharatiya Republican Party-Bahujan Mahasangh ticket," he said.

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