Shillong, Dec. 18: Several thousand voters in Meghalaya have missed the Election Commission?s deadline to secure their right to franchise by enrolling in the state?s electoral rolls.
The last date for enrolment and procuring electoral photo-identity cards was November 30, but a sizeable section of voters failed to get their names registered. A senior official said these people would have to sit out the elections early next year.
?The deadline has expired, which means there is nothing that we can do now to help the people who haven?t filled up and submitted the relevant forms. The same applies to those whose claims have already been rejected. No such case will be entertained now,? he said.
The state election department is engaged in revision of the electoral rolls, but voters in most constituencies are complaining about the allegedly haphazard manner in which the process is being conducted. Some have accused officials of summarily rejecting their claims without summoning them for hearings.
The senior official refuted the allegations, saying there was no scope for manipulation of the process. ?Everything is computerised. If applications have been submitted to the election office, the information mentioned in these will definitely be on the computer?s database,? he said.
If reports originating from some constituencies are to be believed, applications have been selectively destroyed or not forwarded for registration because of ?political reasons?. A source in the election department did not discount the possibility of some application forms being discarded. ?Every politician would like to ensure that the names of only his or her supporters find mention in the electoral rolls,? he said.
As per the guidelines laid down by the Election Commission, not more than four per cent of the population of a particular constituency can be enrolled in the voters? list during the revision process. However, as much as 10 per cent of the population of some rural constituencies has had to be enrolled in the electoral rolls this year.
?The percentage of enrolment has increased in some constituencies, but there has been no foul play. When the claims are genuine, we have no option but to accommodate the names of voters in the electoral rolls. We will justify the same in our report to the Election Commission?, the senior election official said.
However, he admitted that certain people ?try all possible tricks? during the revision process.
A source said the names of people with false birth certificates issued by members of district councils and sordars had been included in the electoral rolls of a few constituencies, while voters with genuine credentials had been misled into committing mistakes. Some residents of Nongspung and Kynshi in the West Khasi Hills complained that they had not been summoned to hearings.
A source close to the BLT leadership told The Telegraph that the directive was issued after chief minister Tarun Gogoi last night turned down the outfit?s demand for a ?positive? decision on the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council by December 21, the day on which the two-year ceasefire will expire.
The BLT, whose leadership is in New Delhi at present, was to decide tonight whether to participate in the tripartite meeting slated for tomorrow.
?Even if the BLT leaders attend the meeting, it will be only to formally convey their decision to withdraw the ceasefire. After all, negotiations cannot continue forever,? the source said.
Apart from the insurgent leadership, senior members of the All-Bodo Students? Union (Absu) and the Bodo People?s Action Committee (BPAC) are in New Delhi.
Confirming that a senior BLT leader had telephoned him last night, the chief minister said he declined to take a ?hasty? decision. ?The Bodo leader told me that it would not be possible for his outfit to extend the ceasefire. I informed him that we will take a decision only by mid-January, after seeking the opinions of all political parties by January 10,? he said.
BLT vice-chairman Kamal Muchahari had yesterday announced his outfit?s decision not to extend the ceasefire. He said the state government would have to own responsibility ?if things go wrong after the truce is called off?.
The source said the peace process was hanging by a thread, and anything could happen over the next couple of days. ?During the last round of discussions, deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had assured the BLT leadership that an accord would be signed by December 21. All front-ranking Bodo leaders have been camping in the capital in the hope that the proposed administrative council would see the light of day tomorrow. However, the state government has jeopardised the peace process by postponing it till mid-January.?
On Monday, the state Cabinet decided to seek the opinions of all political parties on the BTC and appeal to the Centre and the BLT to extend their ceasefire by a month. The decision followed an all-party meeting earlier in the day.
The meeting was inconclusive because various parties sought details of the draft understanding with the BLT on the proposed BTC boundary and a mechanism to safeguard the rights of the non-Bodos. The government agreed to provide the information later.
The BLT and the Centre had signed a ceasefire agreement in March 2000. As many as 17 rounds of tripartite talks and several informal sittings have been held since then.