CPI: 15,000 voters missing from list in Cantonment Board

CHENNAI: The CPI on Sunday sought intervention of the Election Commission over the removal of 15,000 voters from St Thomas Mount cum Pallavaram Cantonment Board list and secure their voting rights.

In a statement, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said that election for the Cantonment Board would be held on April 30 and it is shocking that nearly 15,000 voters from the voters list had been removed.

“The eligibility to be a voter of the Cantonment Board election has been changed from being a resident of the cantonment area to one who pays property taxes. Through the change, the right to vote of the people residing in the cantonment locality has been denied. It is a violation of the People’s Representative Act and the Constitution,” he said.

People living in the cantonment are dependent on the board for basic amenities like drinking water, road and streetlights, he said.

The Union Defense Ministry should directly intervene in this matter of denial of voting rights and should ensure inclusion of the names of all those residing in the locality in the Cantonment Board voters list, he said, adding that the EC should also intervene and advice the Centre in this regard. He also appealed to the state government to ensure the voting rights of the people living in the cantonment areas.