Odisha begins process to disenfranchise illegal Bangladeshi immigrants

Kendrapara: With the political parties getting ready for elections due early next year, district administration in Odisha’s coastal town of Kendrapara has begun process to strike out illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

As per official sources, as many as 137 Bangladeshi nationals have been detected in the voter’s list so far during revision process. The foreign nationals have found mention in the list in Mahakalpada tehsil. The district administration has removed these individuals from the list after thorough verification of their antecedents.

The Election Commission has begun voter’s list verification process which is set to conclude on September 27.

“While the verification of voter list is on, 137 Bangladeshi immigrants have been detected so far. Their names have been struck off from the list forthwith,” Kendrapara Collector Dasarathy Satpathy informed.

As per official data, Kendrapara accounts for 1649 Bangladeshi settlers of which 1551 alone are in Mahakalpada tehsil. These suspected immigrants from 362 families living in Mahakalpada were served deportation notice in 2005. However, the process was halted owing to intervention by the UPA government.

The official figures further reflect that as many as 3987 Bangladeshis have settled in the state illegally. Kendrapara accounts for highest illegal Bangladeshi settlers followed by Jagatsinghpur.

It may be mentioned here that around 40 lakh people were left out in the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) drive carried out in Assam, the document of which was published in July this year.

In a press conference in Hyderabad yesterday, BJP national president Amit Shah said that the party was committed to completing the NRC in Assam and other states.