Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Apr 24: Less than 50 percent Kashmiri migrants cast their vote in Anantnag -Pulwama Constituency at 13 polling booths at Jammu today.
Out of 8,783 M Forms received by the office of Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) Migrants 4003 displaced Kashmiri Pandits cast their vote today.
According to ARO Migrants Sachin Dev Singh 45.58 percent voting was reported at 13 migrant polling stations in Jammu. The highest number of 56.10 percent votes were polled at Polling Booth Migrant School Purkhoo followed by 52.44 percent voting at Director School Education Muthi while 33.98 percent votes were polled at Women College Gandhi Nagar, he added.
He said 43.77 percent votes were polled at Government Higher Secondary School Jagti A, while 43.53 percent votes were polled at Polling Booth Jagti B. At polling booth Panchayat Ghar Barnai, 48.30 percent votes were polled while 47.67 percent votes were polled at PS JK Board of School Education, 44.46 percent votes were polled at polling booth of Agriculture University Udaywala, 42.14 percent votes were polled in DSE A at Muthi, 43.79 percent votes were polled in Middle School Roop Nagar, 51.02 percent votes were polled at Polling Booth, Director Economics & Statistics, Janipur, 48.50 percent votes were polled at Migrant School Nagrota and 35.34 percent votes were polled at Government Engineering College Canal Road Jammu.
Reports said 46.6 percent voting was reported at one polling booth at Udhampur where out of 191 voters 91 migrants exercised their franchise.
However there were wide spread protests in front of migrant polling booths at various places as majority of KP voters alleged that their names were not included in voter lists despite filling of M Forms in time.
Over 50 migrants staged a protest demonstration in front of polling booth at Agriculture University Branch Office, Udaywala in protest against the non inclusion of their names in voter lists. They demanded a re-poll in the Constituency as the Government has not deliberately included the names of migrants in voter lists and deprived the community of exercising its democratic right.
H L Bhat a social activist and general secretary JKVM and Ashok Kangan representative of Displaced Traders Association who led the protest also took up the issue with the ARO Migrants and Election Observer on phone and lodged their strong protest.
Protests were also held at Jagti township as hundreds of migrants had to return from their polling booths without casting their vote as they could not find their names in voter lists. The protestors raising slogans against the Government demanded action against the guilty. The representatives of Jagti Migrants Welfare Committee including Veer Ji Belove, Roshan Lal Raina, Ravinder Kumar, Pintoo Ji and Vinod Tickoo in an appeal to Election Commission of India demanded a probe into the matter and action against the guilty as why the names of those KPs were not included in the voter lists who had filled up their M Forms.
At DSE Muthi where two polling booths were set up many migrants including some aged people were seen coming out of polling booths without casting their vote. Sarla Bhat wife of Rattan Lal Bhat a migrant from Wachi Constituency said that her family had four votes and not a single was included in the voter list though they had submitted the M Forms well in time.
Same was the claim of B L Dhar a social activist and a voter from Pahalgam Constituency. He alleged it was a deliberate attempt to deprive the displaced people from their right to vote and ECI was looking a mute spectator.
Ramesh Kumar Koul a voter from Kokernag Constituency retuned without casting his vote from Barnai polling booth as his name was missing in the list. Scores of migrant voters also retuned without casting vote from this polling booth after they could not find their names in voter lists.
Ravi Raina from Goja Mohalla Anantnag who has 13 voters in his family said that not a single vote of this family was included in voter list. Raina who along with his other family members had to return without casting their vote as their names were missing in the list. Raina alleged that the names of majority of members were missing from voter lists in Anantnag town and despite having voter I’ Card we were not allowed to cast the vote and asked to approach Election Office of Migrants at Shanker Building. He said we visited there too but to no avail as the authorities there said that they had submitted their M Forms to concerned authorities on the same date and don’t know why the names were not included in the voter lists.
Ramesh Raina from Avil Kulgam alleged that names were not included in the voter lists deliberately to deprive the displaced Pandits of this democratic right.
He said last year a notification was issued by Relief Organization that the Assistant Commissioner Kulgam will visit Migrant School Purkhoo for enumeration of voter lists of the district and on the said date hundreds of the people visited the School but the AC from Kulgam did not turn up.
The issue was taken up with the Minister and we were informed that next date will be fixed but that day never came. Even the migrants of the district putting up in other States of the country visited on the said date after spending a huge amount and it did not serve any purpose to them.
He said EPIC cards were issued to only 10 percent migrants and Avil village of Kulgam district has been bifurcated and its voters were included into the voter lists of village Regipora Kulgam which also created a confusion among the people.
Sheela Handoo BJP Mahila Morcha National Executive Member also accused the authorities of deliberately depriving migrants from casting their votes by not including the names of bonafide voters in the voter lists. She said BJP has launched a strong protest with EC on the issue as this was a deliberate attempt to deprive a community from their democratic right.
However when contacted ARO Migrants, Sachin Dev Singh said that M Forms were filled up by the migrants but when the Department tried to examine and scrutinize them it failed to find their names in original voter lists. Moreover some people filled up M Forms at a very late stage and that was also a reason for their non inclusion.
Follow our WhatsApp channel