Archbishop of Orissa Raphael Cheenath has petitioned the Election Commission requesting that the elections in Kandhamal district be postponed. The cleric reports the number of Christians affected during the last eight months at 50,000 people.District Magistrate Krishna Kumar says there were 25,000 displaced people at the peak of violence of which 4,000 were Hindus and 21,000 Christians.
He contends that not all Christian families lost their election cards and of the 25,000 displaced people only 12,000 are eligible to vote. "Of these only 4,000 people have lost their voter cards," says Krishan Kumar.
He is confident that apart from the 2,200 duplicate cards already issued the district administration will issue another 1,000 duplicate cards after the third survey. "Whoever apples till April 12 will get duplicate cards," he assures us.
The other problem that the district administration faces is the transportation of riot-affected to their respective polling booths and bringing them back under the protection of the local police and Central Reserve Police Force.
Elaborate measures have been taken to escort the riot-affected people from the relief camps to their polling booths, adds Krishan Kumar, and a majority of those displaced can cast their vote in a free and fair manner.
Images: Refugees at a camp in Kandhamal
Also read: Who killed Swami Lakshmanananda? | India Votes 2009
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