BENGALURU: According to a New Delhi-based NGO, names of about 18 lakh Muslim are not enrolled as voters for the Karnataka Assembly election 2018.
It is a matter of concern that the political parties which always eye for the Muslim votes, that are second largest group in Karnataka are not aware of this.
But thanks to Dr Abusaleh Shariff, a renowned economist and member of the Justice Sachar Committee, Research Associate and COO of the Center For Research And Debates in Development Policy (CRDDP), who has now begun a campaign for the enrollment mission.
“According to new voter list released by the Karnataka government, there are about 18 lakh Muslims who don’t have voter ID cards or their names are missing from the list. Voter ID card is a compulsory documents in the absence of which Muslims without voter ID card will not ne able to vote”, said Saifullah, software engineer by profession.
“People think that once the election dates are announced, they cannot enrol, which is wrong. They can do it till the last date of nomination.” The Election Commission on Tuesday announced the election dates and the last date of nomination is set for April 24.
Shariff told Deccan Herald that they have identified 16 Karnataka constituencies from which the number of Muslims without voter ID has crossed 1.28 lakh.
CRDDP with its team of software engineers and experts, developed an mobile App Muslim Voters which can be downloaded from website missingmuslimvoters.com.
The Karnataka Muslims, who don’t have the voter ID cards issued in their name or with the missing voter ID can also download the app by following the simple steps given below.
- Give a miss call at 8099683683
- You will be replied with a link of the ‘Muslim Voters’ app on your phone
- Download and install the app
- Register your name mention the area and assembly constituency
- Fill in the details of voters in your neighborhood who don’t have voter ID card and submit
- CRDDP team members will coordinate and get the voter ID card issued
Giving an example of the Shivajinagar Assembly constituency, he said: “CRDDP identified a total 18,453 Muslim households in Shivajinagar constituency. Census 2011 data (Household series – HH-01) suggests that only 4.3% of households have household size of one. 793 Muslim households, therefore, can have one registered voter. But our data extracts from Election Commission Electoral Rolls found that 8795 households have only one registered voter. Thus in Shivajinagar alone, 8002 Muslim households have adults with no voter’s ID.”
They did not rely on it alone but has also engaged community activists and volunteers to rectify this.
“With the help of volunteers and a bare minimum support staff, we are trying to ensure that we reach all households which have more than one voter and get them registered. This is their fundamental right,” he said.
