Upon learning of the situation, the local archdiocese sent a note to the Electoral Court of Karnataka, a southern BJP-ruled state where elections are scheduled for May. Of the more than 9,000 names, about 8,000 have disappeared in constituencies where there are more minority voters. The spokesman Kanthraj considers that it is a clear political manipulation.
Bangalore () – “We note with great dismay the news that has reached us about the removal of names from the lists that were published at polling stations in the Shivajinagar district of Bangalore. After careful examination and verification, we have found that a large number of names belonging to our Christian community are missing.”
JA Kanthraj, public relations officer for the Archdiocese of Bangalore, capital of the southern state of Karnataka, filed a complaint with the authorities when it was found that they had removed the names of several thousand religious minority voters from the electoral rolls. “Of a total of 9,195 names, about 8,000 are missing, corresponding to voters belonging to recognized tribes and castes and to the Muslim community. It is astonishing that out of 193 polling stations, 91 of them have been selectively chosen based on the place where the minorities reside”, continues the letter that was presented on February 15 to the president of the State Electoral Tribunal.
In Karnataka, currently ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), local elections are due to take place in May and Christian leaders suspect that denaming religious minorities is part of the party’s strategy to stay in power: “We fear that many of the city’s electoral districts have been tampered with with impunity. If such maneuvers are allowed to continue unchecked, citizens’ confidence in the electoral process will be irreparably destroyed,” continues the president. Archdiocesan document.
According to Kanthraj, there is no doubt that this is a clear manipulation to prevent Christians and Muslims from voting in the upcoming elections. The spokesman also reported that the president of the Electoral Tribunal responded to the archdiocese suggesting that campaigns be organized in all constituencies of Bangalore so that people can find out if their names have been removed from the electoral roll. Kanthraj explained that the archdiocese has launched such a campaign in all parishes.
Rizwan Arshad, an MP for the opposition Congress party in the Shivajinagar constituency, said he was shocked by what happened: “This is a blatant attempt by the BJP to rob minorities of their fundamental right to vote,” he said. On February 9, Arshad had submitted a written petition to the Karnataka High Court against the political plot to undermine the voting rights of minorities.
Legal experts and minority representatives have commented that since 2014, when the BJP came to power, there have been repeated abuses against religious minorities by electoral bureaucrats.
