Jammu: A day after the final electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir were published, some experts and political parties on Saturday questioned the record addition of over 11 lakh voters to the list, saying it appears that authorities adopted a "clandestine approach" to add outsiders to the list.
Out of the 11 lakh new voters, 3 lakh are first-time voters. Eight lakh new voters across different assembly segments can change the total vote bank equilibrium in favour of the ruling party, political expert A N Sadhu said.
CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami said non-BJP parties have formed a committee to discuss the issue. The final electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir were published on Friday with the highest-ever addition of 11.28 lakh new voters.
Taking into account the deletion of names from the electoral rolls, the net increase stood at 7,72,872, a 10.19 per cent increase in registered electors over the draft roll, Joint Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jammu and Kashmir Anil Salgotra had said.
The release of the electoral rolls paves the way for holding assembly polls in the union territory, the first since Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated and the state was bifurcated into union territories in 2019.
Political expert Sadhu said this sudden increase in the number of new voters "is a matter of concern".
Out of the over 11 lakh new voters added to the electoral rolls, 3 lakh are first-time voters. But what about the remaining over 8 lakh new voters, he asked. "Eight lakh voters in different assembly segments can change the total vote bank equilibrium in favour of the ruling party and affect prospects of regional parties," he added. Sadhu said the authorities appear to have adopted a "clandestine approach" to add those from outside Jammu and Kashmir to the electoral rolls.
The number of voters added in the latest special summary revision of electoral rolls is much higher than in previous exercises. According to a Jammu and Kashmir election department statement, 11,40,768 claims were received for inclusion in the electoral rolls and 11,28,672 were accepted.
The accepted claims included 3,01,961 in the age group of 18-19, the statement said. An analysis of the official data showed that 6.55 lakh new voters were added to the electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir during the five-year gap between parliamentary elections in 1984 and 1989 and 5.62 lakh between 1996 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections.