Christian names missing from voters’ list in Madhya Pradesh

(May 04, 2012) A Christian ecumenical forum in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state has alleged that names of Christians have been deleted from the voters’ list in the state. The forum called Isai Mahasangh has constituted a committee to probe into the alleged deletion of names before registering a complaint with the Election Commission of India. The Christians claimed they were being discriminated against by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, ruling Madhya Pradesh. Isai Mahasangh president Sujit William said reports suggest that names of 20000 Christians were deleted from the lists from cities such as state capital Bhopal and Jabalpur. The issue he said came to light during the district unit election of the Mahasangh. “It was later noticed that similar irregularities existed in voters’ lists at other places as well and so we have decided to draw up a complete picture of the situation before moving the EC,” William added. Meanwhile, Congress, the main opposition party, blamed the state government of “playing dirty politics” to deprive the Christians of their constitutional right to franchise. A former Mayor and state Congress vice president Vishwanath Dubey asked his party’s state president Kantial Bhuria to help Christians facing such discrimination. The state’s Assembly polls are due next year. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Catholic Church spokesman, Fr. Anand Muttungal told Ucanews agaency that he would write to heads of Christian Churches to cross check the voters’ list and ensure that no Christian was deprived of his’/her voting right.