Controversy over enrolment of voters
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The UDP has urged the State Government to immediately call for an all-party meet to break the current deadlock over voters’ enrolment issue.
“The issue of bogus and doubtful voters is real and needs to be addressed, without impinging on the right of genuine non-tribal voters,” UDP working president Paul Lyngdoh said in a statement issued here on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the three agitating NGOs (KSU, FKJGP and HNYF) have express their dissatisfaction with the decision of the Government relating to the mere changing of the nomenclature of the ‘Special Counter’ for the registration of voters into a ‘Facilitation Cell’ in the office of the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner.
Stating that the Government is not following the core issue of their demands which they had stated in the meeting with the Government on Thursday last, FKJGP president said that the controversial ‘Special Counter’ must be done away with in totality as they were not satisfied with the mere change in the nomenclature.
“The most important point that we raised in the said meeting was that we cannot agree with the blanket directive of the Election Commission (EC),” Marwein said in a letter submitted to Chief Secretary WMS Pariat on Saturday.
“The Facilitation Cell follows the directives of the EC,” he said, adding that there is an immediate need to change the guidelines to protect the interest of the indigenous tribal people.
“This politics of changing nomenclature is only to further delay the action as per our demand. The Government must be mature and decisive enough to take decisions for the protection and safeguard of the microscopic indigenous community of the State and we would like the Government to understand that we cannot accept such tactics of manipulation adopted by the Government,” the FKJGP leader stated.
Meanwhile, RBYF general secretary LK Sawkmie demanded that the enrolment of the voters in the State should be stopped.
“We do not have faith on the present procedure under which the enrolment is being carried out. With the lacunae in the system, there are more possibilities that people with doubtful identity would get enrolled in the State’s voter list,” Sawkmie said, even as he underlined his support to the campaign launched by the three NGOs.