Responding to the allegation made by JA Kanthraj, spokesperson of the Bengaluru archdiocese, that his and family members’ names were missing from the voter list despite living in the same locality for more than 20 years, Assistant Commissioner (Elections) of Greater Bengaluru Metropolitan Palike (BBMP) has clarified that the field verification and checking of electoral roll by Electoral Registration Officer and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer found that the names exist in BTM Layout Assembly Constituency.
Mr. Kanthraj’s allegations were quoted in a story published on February 16, “Archdiocese of Bangalore expresses concern over alleged missing names of voters from minority communities.”
Responding to the BBMP’s clarification, Mr Kanthraj said, “After the story was published, I got calls from the BBMP office. I was asked to submit my old voter ID card, and after 30 minutes, I got a reply from them that the names were not missing from the voter list. Why did they take so long to check the names? A few days ago when I met the Chief Electoral Officer, my name was missing. My name was not coming on search. I wonder how this name surfaced after meeting the concerned BBMP official.”