Jammu Withdraws Order That Allowed Non-Locals To Vote, Amidst Massive Backlash

The Jammu administration, on October 12, withdrew a circular due to the widespread backlash it faced. The circular suggested providing residence certificates to those living in the valley for more than a year and registering them as voters.

As the first electoral roll revision that has been happening since the abrogation of Article 370, many parties and residents accused the administration of attempting to influence the elections with a manipulated voters list. This further built up into a controversy and led to the administration reconsidering the proposal.

The Circular

The District Magistrate of Jammu, Avny Lavasa, issued a circular directing the Revenue officials to provide certificates of residence to those living in the valley for over a year and include them in the voter enrolment process. Lavasa, who also happens to be the district election officer in Jammu, noted that some of the newly eligible voters were having a hard time registering themselves as voters due to the non-availability of required documents.

Many did not have a valid proof of residence, an Aadhaar card, passport or bank passbook. To enable these new voters to vote for the upcoming assembly elections, she directed the officials to issue resident certificates to those who have been living in the valley for a year. According to a report by the Scroll, authorised tehsildars were directed to issue certificates after necessary field verifications.

The electoral roll revision in Jammu plays a significant role this time as the exercise is being carried out for the first time since the revocation of the special status. Before the abrogation of the special constitutional status, only permanent residents of the valley were eligible to vote. The new addition to the list has built a sense of concern among the people regarding the possible manipulation of voter lists and demographic changes.

The Controversy

Several regional parties and leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mehbooba Mufti, came forward and condemned the decision. Mufti accused the government of implementing a form of "colonial settler project" in Jammu. As a critic of the many policies initiated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier, Mufti accused them of creating religious and regional divisions between Jammu and Kashmir.

ECI's latest order for registration of new voters makes it clear that GOIs colonial settler project has been initiated in Jammu. They will bear the first blow to Dogra culture, identity, employment & business. pic.twitter.com/ZX9dOSEWx1

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 12, 2022

BJPs attempts to create religious & regional divisions between Jammu & Kashmir must be thwarted because whether its a Kashmiri or a Dogra, safeguarding our identity & rights will be possible only if we put up a collective fight.

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 12, 2022

News about the revision came about after similar controversies had taken place earlier. In August, there was an uproar after the Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar said that the UT could get 25 lakh more voters. This number included those originally from outside Jammu and Kashmir who were living in the district, such as migrant workers and security forces.

Reminding people of the same, the National Conference alleged it was a move by the Centre to add 25 lakh non-voters in Jammu and Kashmir. In a tweet, they said, "BJP is scared of the elections and knows it will lose badly". Adding on to it, they asked the people of the valley to defeat such conspiracies at the ballot box.

The Government is going ahead with its plan to add 25 lakh non-local voters in J&K and we continue to oppose this move. BJP is scared of the elections & knows it will lose badly. People of J&K must defeat these conspiracies at the ballot box. pic.twitter.com/U6fjnUpRct

— JKNC (@JKNC_) October 11, 2022

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