Apni Party worried over ‘missing’ names of Kashmiri Pandits from electoral roll

Jammu, May 14

A day after election to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, Apni Party general secretary Vijay Bakaya expressed concern over the missing names of Kashmiri Pandit (KP) migrants from voter list.

Many KPs had to return yesterday without casting their vote after they were allegedly told that their names were not in the voter list in Jammu. The Election Commission (EC) had made special arrangements to allow KPs living in Jammu, Udhampur and New Delhi to vote for their constituency in Kashmir. These migrants have been living outside the Valley since outbreak of militancy in the 1990s.

Bakaya said long lines of voters could be seen at polling stations throughout the day, which included the elderly and first-time voters, and at the end of the day, nearly 7,000 votes had been polled.

He added that this figure constituted nearly 39 per cent of the total migrant votes mapped in the Srinagar LS constituency. The Apni Party leader expressed dismay that at least more than 1,000 voters had to return from booths because their names were missing from the electoral roll.

“These voters were not allowed to cast their votes even though they showed the voter cards. The situation was chaotic at several polling stations,” he added.

Bakaya said the authorities concerned at the highest level were informed but redressal came after polling was already over and there were a few voters left who were waiting.