Elections 2019: Kanyakumari Fishermen Demand Voting For ‘Deleted’ Voters Before Counting

Chennai: The Kanyakumari Maavatta Meen Thozhilalar Sangam (Kanyakumari District Fish Workers Association) has demanded an urgent inquiry into the mass deletion of voters from the list in the Lok Sabha elections that were held in Tamil Nadu on April 18, during the second phase of polling.

Office bearers of the association have submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state through the District Collector.

Pointing out that the removed voters belong to the minority community and that the vast majority of them are fishermen — the association has alleged that the deletion of voters was aimed at minimising the anti-government votes.

Number of voters less than the 2016 Assembly polls

The number of voters in the state in the Lok Sabha elections this time was 14,93,509 — significantly lower than the 15,38,621 voters in the 2016 assembly elections. Around 45,112 people who had their right to vote in assembly elections lost their right in these Lok Sabha polls.

Also read: Missing Names and ‘Cash for Vote’ Allegations: Highlights of Tamil Nadu Polling

In the detailed memorandum, the association has estimated that the number of voters should have been 16,08,621, counting the number of people crossing the voting age threshold.

The association has alleged that the government has resorted to revenge tactics against the fisherfolk community by deleting their votes for fighting against the anti-fishermen policies and projects of the state and central governments.

The majority of the deleted voters belong to fishing hamlets like Thoothur, Enayam, Muttom, Kadiapattinam and Poothurai, which were up in arms against the proposed Enayam International Container Transshipment Terminal as part of the Sagarmala project.

The project faced widespread protests from fishermen citing livelihood issues while the environmental enthusiasts alleged that the marine biodiversity would be severely damaged. Subsequently the project was shifted from Enayam to Kovalam near Kanyakumari, where again the local people have opposed it.

Demand for special camp for deleted voters

The General Secretary of the association, S Anthony, said, “We demand that the deleted voters must be provided with an opportunity to vote before the counting date. A special camp should be immediately started to identify the purposefully deleted voters and necessary action should taken against those who had master-minded this.”

“The state and central governments are afraid of the fishermen’s vote going against them, and we presume that the deletion was done out of a fear of defeat,” he added.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014 promised to form a separate ministry for fisheries but has not done anything for the fishermen in the past five years. In addition, they have proposed the Sagarmala project which will adversely affect the fishing community all over the country,” he said.

The District Collector faced the wrath of the deleted voters in many villages on the day of polling. The BJP-All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) combine has also been accused of acting against the welfare of the people. The continuous imposition of various schemes in the state has forced the people to take to numerous agitations against both the state and the central governments, and it is expected that this sentiment among the public will reflect in the election results.