Jammu, April 28 (Scoop News)- Led by Election Incharge BJP Kashmir Migrant Cell Triloki Nath Bhat, a deputation of migrant leaders called on BJP State General Secretary Bali Bhagat and State Spokesperson Lalit Moza (Adv.) at party headquarters and briefed them about the problems being faced by their community and avoidable hurdles existing in the procedure for casting votes. They apprised the State BJP leaders that, the “M” form which is required to be filed for becoming eligible to cast vote is the biggest hurdle in the exercise of the fundamental right of voting by the migrants. They further stated that process of voting should be simplified and the assurances advanced by the various authorities in the past in this regard be honoured and implemented. The requirement of migrants to get themselves registered for every election should be dispensed with to reduce the hardships faced by them in exercising their fundamental right of voting in an election. Elaborating the consequences of this cumbersome, complicated and time consuming process of migrant voting, they said that in Anantnag parliamentary constituency only 7000 voters were able to register as voters and out of this not more than 50 percent managed to actually cast their votes out of total 45000 migrant voters. In Srinagar parliamentary constituency also only 12000 voters have been able to registered as voters and the number of persons who actually would manage to vote is anybody’s guess. The most unfortunate aspect of this vote registration process for a migrant is that the migrant voter has to spend couple of hundred rupees and spend more than two days and this is the biggest obstacle.
They demanded that requirement of filing “M” Form should be withdrawn and all the migrants must be allowed to cast their vote on the pattern of general voters.
The BJP leaders gave a patient hearing to the deputationists and said that it is most unfortunate that today even after 24 years of exodus from homes and hearths from different areas of Kashmir valley, no one has deemed it necessary to even utter a single word of sympathy towards these helpless people. They stated that it seems to be a well knit conspiracy aimed at intentionally depriving the genuine Kashmiri migrant voters from availing their fundamental right as the parties like Congress and NC have realized that a major chunk of these voters will be going in favour of BJP and its PM candidate Narendra Modi. The BJP leaders assured the deputationists that their cause shall be raised at appropriate levels and at the national level by its head office at New Delhi
BJP Senior leader Balji Kaul, Sheela Handoo, Mohan Lal Sopari, Bal Krishan Langoo, Trilok Singh and T.K. Dhar were the members of the deputation.
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