This story is from August 20, 2018

Anger in Sri Lanka Basti over loss of voting rights

Anger in Sri Lanka Basti over loss of voting rights
SECUNDERABAD: Losing their right to vote in Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) elections has angered residents of Sri Lanka Basti, who have been living there for nearly six decades.
The issue of deletion of votes came to light during the ‘Basti Nidra’ held by the Cantonment Congress Committee on Saturday. Sri Lanka Basti is located in Ward No-II (Rasoolpura). According to the SCB records, 17,000 names were deleted from the voters’ list out of a total 28,000 voters.
The SCB pointed out that they lost their voting rights since they were encroachers on defence land.
In no other civilian ward under the SCB there has been such a significant cleaning up of the voters’ list. The SCB has cited the Supreme Court orders issued two months ago to delete encroachers’ names from the voters’ list. The apex court had said encroachers on defence land in cantonments would lose their right to vote in the cantonment board elections.
“The people whose names have been deleted from the voters’ list are upset. They said the names were deleted without any prior information,” said M Krishank, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee official spokesman. He added that a public interest litigation has been filed in the high court seeking restoration of voting rights.
Sri Lanka Basti residents also said they have not been given access to water facilities. During the Basti Nidra they demanded why the SCB had failed to inform them about the issue of voting rights. Krishank added that the angry residents were even toying with the idea of leading a protest march to the high court, if their pleas for restoration of voting rights were not met.
This was the 10th consecutive Basti Nidra held at slum areas. The event involves spending an entire night at the basti and is usually held on a Saturday night. About 800 people participated in last Saturday’s Basti Nidra.
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