Many displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu were disappointed on Monday during the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections as their names were not in the electoral lists, preventing them from voting. Despite lining up at special polling stations in Jammu under tight security, many Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave without voting during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Veena, a resident of Jagti camp and a migrant from the erstwhile Habbakadal area of the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, expressed her frustration and said, “I reached the polling station with three members of my family to cast our votes despite the heat. We carried our EPIC (Voter Identification Cards too. But we find that our names are missing in the electoral roll. It is a denial of our right to vote. They (EPIC) should be canceled by ECI. The government wants us to vote, but at the same time “has a process that denies us the right to exercise our franchise.”
Avinash Raina, along with four members of his family from the erstwhile Budgam district of Srinagar LS headquarters, reported a similar experience and stated, “We came here to vote. We are not in the voting list. What do we do now? Nobody is here to listen to us and solve the problem.
Kuldeep Kumar and several other voters in his colony faced the same problem at a special polling booth at the Talab Tillo Agriculture office. Despite having voter ID cards, they were denied the opportunity to vote during the fourth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“We have discovered that more than 20 people were banned from voting because their names were not on the voter list. Despite having EPIC cards, they were denied voting. This should be investigated,” he said.
Surinder Koul expressed his frustration and said, “We have raised the issue with the election authorities. People are very angry.”
Shadi Lal Pandita, Congress legislator and Jagti Housing Committee president, criticized the administration saying, “They accuse the KPs of not voting, but the reality differs. They have voter identity cards but they do not appear in the lists.” enormous injustice.
Dr Riaz Ahmed, Deputy Electoral Returning Officer (AERO) for Migrants, acknowledged the problem and attributed it to outdated data used to create the lists. He added that steps would be taken to rectify the situation and urged election officials to allow affected voters to cast their votes.
Nearly 52,100 Kashmiri migrants have registered to vote at the Srinagar Lok Sabha headquarters, which has 26 polling booths, most of which are located in Jammu. Despite these efforts, many people were unable to vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.