SRINAGAR: Reports of Jammu and Kashmir likely to get over 25 lakh, additional voters, after the summary revision of electoral rolls is a "misrepresentation of facts by vested interests", the Union Territory administration said Saturday.
According to it, there is no change in the special provisions for Kashmiri migrants for their enrolment in the electoral rolls of their native constituencies and the summary revision will cover existing residents of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
In an advertisement published in local dailies by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, the administration said the summary revision of electoral rolls is undertaken by the Election Commission from time to time according to the laid down process.
There is no change in the special provisions for Kashmiri migrants for their enrolment in the electoral rolls of their native constituencies, it said.
"They will continue to be given the option of voting at their place of enrolment or through postal ballot or through specially set up polling stations at Jammu, Udhampur, Delhi, etc," the advertisement stated.
The administration said there have been media reports claiming over 25 lakh voters will be added to the electoral rolls once the revision process starts.
"This is a misrepresentation of facts spread by vested interests. This revision of electoral rolls will cover existing residents of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the increase in numbers will be of the voters who have attained the age of 18 years as of October 1, 2022, or earlier," it said.
The clarification comes after a controversy broke out following Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar's remark that Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370.
His remarks came under severe criticism from the mainstream political parties here who alleged the "inclusion of non-locals was a clear cut ploy to disenfranchise the people of Jammu and Kashmir".
PDP chief had said the move of the election authorities to allow outsiders residing ordinarily in Jammu and Kashmir for jobs, education or business to register as voters was the "last nail in the coffin of democracy here".
On Saturday, National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said the "inclusion of non-local voters" in the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir was "unacceptable" and termed it a "ploy to disempower the people".
He said NC president Farooq Abdullah has convened an all-party meeting on Monday to discuss the issue.
To clear the air over the issue, the Jammu and Kashmir administration in the newspaper advertisement on Saturday said the summary revision was to enable eligible young people to register themselves as voters.
Besides, it also allows a person who has changed his residence to enrol at a new location by getting his name deleted from the electoral rolls at the earlier location, the advertisement stated.
The number of electors as published in the Special Summary Revision of Jammu and Kashmir state in 2011 was 66,00,921 and the number in the electoral roll of the Union Territory now is 76,02,397, the Information Department said.
"This increase is mainly due to the new voters, who attained the age of 18 years," it added.
The administration also clarified that there is no change in rules for buying property and getting jobs in Jammu and Kashmir and "have no link to the representation of voters or otherwise".
Welcoming the clarification issued by the Union Territory administration, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said "it was a victory for the people".
He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and said the clarification has put an end to the controversy about the inclusion of non-locals.
About the Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer's remark that led to the controversy, he said, "Why are such statements being given in the first place that causes confusion among the people who fear demographic change?" "I am thankful to the authorities both at Centre and Jammu and Kashmir who came out with this clarification, providing relief to the people," Bukhari added.
Here is what political parties from the valley have said on the matter so far
Former Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig on Friday lashed out at Jammu and Kashmir's poll officer for his statement on the inclusion of non-local voters in the electoral rolls, saying the irresponsible remarks were made without authority and any legal jurisdiction.
He also said there was no such law which gave voting rights to non-state subjects in the Union Territory (UT), and the domicile law was about jobs and elections.
"The officer gave a statement about 25 lakh additional voters. This is an irresponsible and wrong statement," he told reporters here.
Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar had recently announced that the Union territory was likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370.
Baig, who is also a lawyer, said a domicile certificate, as defined in Section 3-A of Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services Decentralisation and Recruitment Rules, 2010, can be issued by a tehsildar to those who lived in the UT for 15 years or studied in schools here for seven years.
"They can get jobs, but not become citizens and do not have voting rights," he said.
Senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz said time has come for mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir to come forward for a "decisive battle" against "brazenly undemocratic and unconstitutional step" of inclusion of non-local voters in the electoral rolls.
"As a first reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's disruptionist move in Kashmir, the Kashmir mainstream must show a visibly and qualitatively different reaction. The Kashmir mainstream leadership should close its ranks and stand extraordinarily united," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Awami National Conference (ANC) alleged that the development clearly "signals that the BJP's Kashmir policy has turned into a disaster".
Talking to reporters here, ANC senior vice president Muzzafar Shah told reporters here that the reports given to the top BJP leadership have reported a rout for the party in both regions of Jammu and Kashmir, hence this "shameful, illegal and unconstitutional attempt at disenfranchising the people".
Inclusion of non-local voters in the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir has heightened the fears of demographic change in the Union territory, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone said here on Friday.
He also appealed to the government to allay the apprehensions of the people.
"The recent statement by officials of the Election Commission pertaining to allowing non-locals to vote in the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has created a new set of apprehensions amongst the people that the government of India must come out with unvarnished truth to allay their fears," Lone said in a statement.
He said the statement of chief electoral officer has "heightened" the fears of demographic intervention and demographic change.
"We know the set of laws that prevail across the country but what matters here is not the application of the law, but the intentions of those implementing the law," he said.
Lone said in the last three years, "disempowerment" of the inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir has become a continuous process and is achieved incrementally with unfailing frequency.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday took out a protest march here against the inclusion of non-local voters in the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Several PDP leaders led by the party's chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari took out the march from the party's head office near Sher-e-Kashmir Park here.
Bukhari said the protest was against the "electoral demographic change being forced by the BJP" through inclusion of "imported voters" in the J-K electoral rolls.
He said the rights of the people of J-K are being "trampled."
"They started the process of taking away the peoples' rights and diluting public will here on August 5, 2019 and now they have added a new chapter to it by saying they will add non-local voters."
"They are trying hard to change the identity, democratic rights, and electoral demography of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, but it is not acceptable to the people of Jammu & Kashmir under any circumstances," Bukhari told reporters.
He said the party leaders wanted to register a peaceful protest to reiterate what their president Mehbooba Mufti said on Thursday.
"This is an attempt to send a message that the people of Jammu & Kashmir will not tolerate this," he added.
About the all-party meeting convened by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday, Bukhari said the party hopes that all the political parties and the people of Jammu and Kashmir will come together "to fight this assault on our identity and rights."