Expressing concern over the declining number of displaced Kashmiri pandit electors, a BJP delegation today met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and demanded simplification of the process for them to register as voters.
The delegation, which included union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Jitendra Singh, and BJP media head Anil Baluni, sought doing away with the requirement for migrant pandits to fill up M-form, which requires them to submit several documents before elections and results in many genuine voters not getting registered.
"Due to several reasons, including this tedious M-form process, the number of displaced Kashmiri pandit voters has been going down. We urged the CEC to introduce online facilities for them to register themselves and simplify the entire process. He promised to look into it," Baluni told reporters.
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Parikshit Kaul of 'Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch', whose members were part of the delegation, said the number of displaced voters has come down to a few thousands from 1.47 lakh on the voters' list in 1996.
It went down to 1.17 lakh and then 71000 in 2008.
"From around 1.70 lakh before 1989, our number is shown as 72793 in 2008. This is due to the complicated procedure of voting that is open to manipulation by vested interests," he said.
The delegation's demands included launching a campaign to ensure 100 per cent registration of eligible voters, doing away with M-forms and Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) for all voters with their past and present address printed on it among others.
A very large part of the Kashmiri pandit population was forced to migrate from the valley following the outbreak of militancy in 1990 after many community members were killed by terorists.
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