Guwahati, Dec. 23: The Nagaland unit of the BJP today got into the poll mode, demanding an intensive revision of the state?s electoral rolls before the February Assembly elections.
The BJP raised the demand in a representation to the chief electoral officer, a copy of which was also sent to the Chief Election Commissioner, following detection of ?serious anomalies? in the electoral rolls, which it said needed ?immediate? rectification.
Seeking deferment of the elections till a proper electoral roll was in place, the BJP, in its representation, sought assessment of the ?ground realities? by a high-level fact-finding team of the Election Commission at the earliest. The BJP claimed that names of 75 per cent of Muslim voters had been struck off the electoral rolls without any valid reason, while several voters had been enrolled in multiple constituencies. ?The size of the electoral census remains much higher and larger than the general population census,? the party alleged.
There were gross irregularities in the issuance of photo-identity cards, too, stated the party representation, issued by Nagaland BJP general secretary O. Mozamo Ngullie and spokesman Ato Yepthomi. ?Photos of non-tribal voters have been fixed against the name of Naga voters while in several cases there are no name against the voter?s photo,? the representation said.
Nagaland chief minister S.C. Jamir has, on several occasions, expressed ?serious? concern over the rise in population of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Addressing a press conference here a few months back, Jamir said the state could not check the growth of infiltrators due to the Assam government?s soft stand on the issue. ?Every time we deport an illegal infiltrator, he procures documents of citizenship from Assam and sneaks back,? he said.
The BJP also charged the ruling Congress with manipulating the electoral rolls and expressed apprehension that several genuine voters would be deprived of exercising their franchise if the electoral rolls were not rectified immediately. The BJP recently announced that it would put up candidates in all the 60 Assembly constituencies of the state and hoped that it would be able to open its account in the state. Assembly elections in Nagaland are due in mid-February along with Meghalaya and Tripura.
The BJP has, of late, made a dent in certain pockets of the state after several senior Congress leaders joined the party.