Hukum Singh, BJP MLA and an accused in Muzaffarnagar riots
A controversial BJP legislator and the party's candidate from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh for the general elections, Hukum Singh, has said those still living in relief camps set up after the Muzaffarnagar riots last year are "trespassers" and have no legal right to vote.
He said he would complain to the Election Commission if they are allowed to vote. Mr Singh has based his argument on the fact that the Uttar Pradesh government of Akhilesh Yadav has "given notices and even filed court cases" asking the people still in relief camps to return home. "They have no houses, no addresses, how can they vote?" he asked.
The election commission had earlier stated that it would ensure all the people displaced by the riots will have the right to vote. Commission sources say Mr Singh has raised a legal point since they are voters not at the camps but in their villages. The commission is reportedly examining how they can vote while still at the camp.
Kairana is around 12 kilometers from the epicentre of the September riots. In that constituency is Malakpur, one of the last relief camps still functioning with about 2,000 people refusing to return to their villages six months after they fled their villages as the riots tore through the area, leaving over 60 dead and thousands homeless.
The people at the camp say they expect to vote. "We will only vote for candidates who will help us. None of these people have," said a woman at the camp. An elderly man said they would not vote "for anyone, from any party, who provoked the riots".
Hukum Singh has been selected by the BJP to contest from Kairana despite his having been named last year in a police FIR for allegedly making a hate speech just before the riots began.
But he vehemently denies that he carries any taint from the deadly riots. He says he has not been charged in any case. His assertion that people in relief camps cannot vote was made when asked whether he will seek their support.