Bengaluru: Traders upset over deletion of names from electoral roll, suspect conspiracy
Bengaluru, Apr 18: A large section of the Marwadi trader community of the city was in for a rude shock as many found their names missing from the electoral roll when they turned up for voting in the Lok Sabha elections Thursday and alleged it was a 'conspiracy'.
Upset over not being able to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections held for 14 constituencies, including three in the city, several members of the community said those whose names were missing had exercised their franchise in the Karnataka Assembly elections in May last year.
BJP alleged large scale 'illegal' deletion of voters names from the electoral roll and demanded a repoll after rectifying it.
In a complaint lodged with the state Chief Electoral Officer, the head of state legal head of BJP M Vinod Kumar and senior counsel Vivek Reddy claimed there was mass indiscriminate deletion of voters' names.
The officials have purposefully and deliberately deleted without any reason just to render undue official favour to the ruling coalition (Congress-JDS). Though the voters resided in the same address, purposefully their names had been deleted," it alleged.
Sources in the CEO office said the complaint had been forwarded to the District Electoral Officer of Bengaluru for necessary action.
"I am living in Nagarathpet for the past 20 years and cast my vote in the 2018 assembly election but today when I went to vote, I found my name missing," Jogaram, who belongs to the traders community, said.
He claimed in his locality at least 400 to 500 people from his community complained about their names missing.
Another trader, Mahendra Jain said his name too was missing from the electoral roll.
"My voter ID itself is 15-year-old which I got the day I shifted to this place but today it does not exist," he said.
He also said most people of his community found their names missing.
."Is it possible that an entire locality has vanished in the thin air? A major conspiracy has happened with the trader community. It is rigging.. All the Jains and Marwadis were identified and their names deleted from the electoral roll,"Jain alleged.
Bharamal Jain said he along with his family went to cast their vote and found their names missing.
"So far as I know at least 15,000 to 16,000 names were deleted illegally. This is not a fair election," a visibly upset Bharamal Jain said.
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West Asia conflict: Six Indians lost their lives in 'various incidents', says MEA
New Delhi (PTI): Amid the escalating West Asia conflict, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said six Indian nationals have lost their lives while one remains missing in "various incidents".
At an inter-ministerial briefing here, Additional Secretary (Gulf), MEA, Aseem R Mahajan, also said, "Late yesterday night, we received information regarding the tragic demise of an Indian national, during an attack in Riyadh on March 18." He, however, did not elaborate upon the circumstances of this death.
"We express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. Our Mission in Riyadh is in touch with the family and closely co-ordinating with local authorities for the early return of the mortal remains to India," he said.
On Friday, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh also said that an Indian national was killed in Saudi Arabia due to the “recent events of March 18”.
In a social media post, the Indian Mission expressed its “deepest condolences on the tragic demise of an Indian national in Riyadh due to recent events on March 18".
A day earlier, the Indian embassy said alerts were received by residents in Riyadh and some other regions on Wednesday. “The Indian community is advised to remain calm and composed,” the embassy said.
Mahajan also told reporters in Delhi that "six Indian nationals have lost their lives and one is missing in various incidents".
"Our missions in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, and the UAE are in regular touch with the concerned authorities regarding the missing Indian national and for the early repatriation of mortal remains of the deceased Indian nationals to India," he said.
Less than a week ago, the MEA official had told reporters in an inter-ministerial briefing on the West Asia situation that five Indian nationals had lost their lives while one is missing in various incidents.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israel combine launched military strikes on Iran. In retaliation, Tehran has targeted Gulf countries hosting US military bases.
Energy and other civilian infrastructure in the Gulf region have also come under attack during this conflict that has stretched into three weeks, with no end to it in sight.
Since February 28, around three lakh passengers have returned from the region to India, Mahajan said.
