Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Oct 2: Claiming that there are hundreds of bogus voters in the electoral rolls of Yoglu and Pania villages in Yachuli constituency of Lower Subansiri district, the Illegal Voter Enrollment Clean Drive Committee (IVECDC) of Yachuli has demanded that the state election commission take note of the illegalities.
Addressing reporters at the press club here on Tuesday, IVECDC advisors Likha Kan and Toko Teki said while there are thousands of bogus voters from outside the state in the district, Yoglu and Pania have exorbitant numbers of such voters.
Out of the total 839 voters in Yoglu, 411 are non-locals, while in Pania, out of 565 voters, 231 are outsiders and bogus voters, they claimed.
While the committee maintained that there was nothing wrong in non-locals exercising their voting rights in the state, and that there are non-locals who have been voting legally for ages, it cited Section 22 of the Representation of the People (RPA) Act, 1950, and said the full procedure of verification of facts and issues was not being followed by the administration.
The committee held the Lower Subansiri deputy commissioner and the Pistana circle officer responsible for the abnormal rise in the number of voters, and also held Yachuli MLA Likha Saaya morally responsible for letting the practice go unchecked.
In response to the committee’s complaint, Joint Chief Electoral Officer DJ Bhattacharjee has written to the Lower Subansiri district election officer (DEO) to cross-verify the electors, and sought a detailed action report.
Meanwhile, Lower Subansiri DC Chuku Takar, who is also the DEO, informed this daily that he has called a meeting on Wednesday and invited the election roll observers to discuss the issue.
He said he had issued instructions not to increase the voters’ percentage by more than 2%, as it is in the guidelines.
The DC said he would be able to give a detailed answer to the allegation only after meeting with the election officers.
Saaya on his part termed the allegation “another political conspiracy and melodrama orchestrated by vested interest to misguide the public of my constituency.”
He said that, unlike in other districts, the non-tribal population of voters is almost similar to that of the tribal population in his constituency.
“There are no bogus cards as the committee has alleged, as random verification in the past showed that they possess genuine voter cards,” the MLA said.
