Elections in India are entering the last phase, with polling in Mumbai on Monday. While there was a buzz surrounding celebrities coming out to vote in India’s tinsel town, complaints of celebrities and journalists not being able to vote surfaced. It was overwhelmingly stated that their name was not on the voting list while they have been voting for decades.

Actress Vidya Maladev, famous for her role in Netflix series Mismatched complained about what she said was really “upsetting” as she was not able to vote because she could not find her name in the voting list.

Famous singer and musician Amit Trivedi also posted a video with the caption, “Voting is our constitutional right. Today I was denied that right and I feel helpless.”

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Actress and model Gauhar Khan vented out her frustration of being denied the right to vote in a video where she was seen saying, “Why do we have Adhaar Cards (voting cards) when we are not considered citizens enough.”

Journalist Rana Ayyub, who is also vocal about intolerance in India towards Muslim community, posted an Instagram story stating that she went with her family to vote and their names were missing from the voters list in Nayi Mumbai area despite the fact that they have been voting in this constituency for the last eighteen years. “Never missed a vote since I turned 18. Frustrating to say the least.”

Producer and Entrepreneur Gayatri Pahlajani posted on X, “After having voted in not one but four general elections, my name has been struck off the voting list.”


Reports of low voting turnout in many states have emerged in Indian media.

Muslims not able to find their names in the voting list made rounds on social media during the elections in Gujrat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

Haroon Khan posted on May 6 that the names of 575 Muslim fisherman in Gujrat were deleted from the voters list. “Is this beginning of a “Hindu Rashtra” by snatching voting rights from Muslims?”, he posted.

Journalist Radhika Bordia posted a video of a Muslim man from UP who was denied the right to cast a vote as his name wasn’t missing from the voting list.

Videos of both Muslim women complaining about their voting cards being downplayed as fake and them being dragged by the same police to not allow them to vote also emerged.


All of this poses a big question mark over the transparency and effectiveness of the election process in India.