From Our Correspondent
TURA, Feb 9: Former MDC of Kharkutta in North Garo Hills (NGH), Smith Momin has written a complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) seeking a special, intensive detection and revision of the voter list of residents of the plains belt of Garo Hills.
The area that the MDC referred to is the region between Mahendraganj in South West Garo Hills (SWGH) to Tikrikilla in the district of West Garo Hills (WGH). The MDC requested the implementation of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for the region in question.
“These areas are sensitive border and migration-affected zones where persistent concerns have been raised by local residents and community bodies regarding the inclusion of ineligible names in the electoral rolls. There is also serious apprehension that some individuals may be enrolled as voters in more than one state, particularly in both Assam and Meghalaya. Such duplication directly affects the fairness and credibility of the electoral process,” said Smith in his complaint.
The former MDC added that legal provisions governing this matter were well established.
“Under Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, a person is not entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for more than one constituency. Under Section 18, a person cannot be registered more than once in the same constituency. Further, Section 31 of the Act prescribes penalties for false declarations and wrongful inclusion in electoral rolls,” he added.
Instances of dual voters in the plains belt have been well documented and special investigations by locals as well as the administration found thousands of such voters – who vote both in the states of Meghalaya and Assam. Many voters were earlier forced to cancel their votes though the number still remains sky high.
“The ECI is empowered under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to direct a special intensive revision of electoral rolls at any time to ensure their accuracy. The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, also provides for field verification, objections, deletions and corrections after due inquiry. Moreover, Article 324 of the Constitution of India gives the Commission full authority over the preparation and supervision of electoral rolls and mandates it to take all necessary steps to ensure free and fair elections,” he added.
Smith sought and immediate order from the ECI for the implementation of SIR in the plain areas of the two districts, conduct house to house verification with proper document scrutiny, cross check electoral databases of Meghalaya and Assam to identify and remove dual voter registrations, take action under relevant legal provisions where false or multiple enrolment are found and appoint independent observers to maintain transparency and public confidence in the process.
“Accurate electoral rolls are the foundation of democratic elections. Timely intervention by the Commission will help protect the rights of genuine voters and strengthen trust in the system. I request that this matter be treated with urgency,” he felt.
A copy of the complaint has been forwarded to the PMO, the Chief Minister of Meghalaya as well as other important offices.
