Delhi polls: Vote and be counted, NE people told

NEW DELHI: Student organizations and other northeastern groups have appealed to their community members to exercise their franchise today. The move assumes significance in the wake of the recent faux pas in the BJP manifesto wherein people from the region were referred to as "immigrants".

The NE groups claim to have mobilized more than 30,000 voters who will click a selfie showing their inked finger and post it on social networking sites. This will send out a message that the community has the power to influence the poll outcome, they say.

The community members said what appeared in the BJP's manifesto can't be dismissed as a minor error."I am sure manifestos are checked before being published. How can the party allow the word immigrant to go unnoticed? I can't believe it's a mistake," said T Romeo Hmar, a functionary of North East Labour Forum.

These groups had held several meetings on non-implementation of the MP Bezbaruah committee recommendations to address racial discrimination in Delhi.They also took a serious note of the recent church attacks in the capital that have sparked fears among Christians, many of whom are from the northeast.

The NE groups say at least 20,000 students and over 10,000 professionals are likely to cast votes in the Delhi assembly polls. The community has decided to pursue with the new government the issue of the Bezbaruah committee's recommendations.

The committee recommended sanctioning police personnel for a special north east unit, setting up of hostels for NE students in colleges, fast-track courts for cases related to NE people, legal help, changes in NCERT syllabus to include NE issues among others. "We have campaigned for the recommendations to be implemented but nothing concrete has happened. Maybe they think we are not vote bank. That is why we have worked very hard on mobilizing NE people to vote and make their presence felt," said Timothy Chongthu, a functionary of Kuki Students Union.

According to some NE people, they should be seen as a contributor to the city's economy . "We are in the process of registering our trade union with the labour commissioner in Saket. It will have 220 members and eight executive members who are mostly BPO employees and businessmen. Similarly , the election this time is crucial for us. We have asked everyone to vote wisely ," said Romeo Hmar.

Hmar and other student activists have met candidates in the run-up to polls. Hmar met AAP candidate Promila Tokas from RK Puram. "Since we have a lot of people in Munirka which witnessed several racial attacks, we wanted to gauge her view on the issue. She assured us she will act as a bridge between the NE community and locals," he said.

J Mavio, a functionary of the Naga Students' Union said the number of NE voters in Delhi could be much more than 30,000. "We had a special voter registration camp last time when there were 7,000 voters from RK Puram alone.We have a bigger presence in Malviya Nagar, Safdarjung Enclave, Timarpur, Kishan Garh in Mehrauli, New Delhi and many others."

The Bezbaruah committee report estimated that over two lakh people from the northeast may have migrated to Delhi in the past decade or so.