New Delhi: Authorities in Jammu on Wednesday, October 12, authorised tehsildars (revenue officials) to issue ‘certificates of residence’ to those residing in the Union territory’s winter capital for more than one year to facilitate their entry in the ongoing special summary revision of electoral rolls.The order assumes significance given that all political parties in the Union territory, barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been accusing the Election Commission of trying to enlist non-locals as voters to tilt electoral fortunes in the favour of the saffron party.In fact, chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar’s comments in August sparked a row after he had said that Jammu and Kashmir would likely get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the reading down of Article 370 in 2019.Amidst this backdrop, district election officer and deputy commissioner, Jammu, Avny Lavasa passed the directive on Wednesday after taking note of “some eligible voters facing hardships in registration as voters for non-availability of required documents”.The special summary revision of electoral rolls has been on in the Union territory with effect from September 15 for registration of new voters, deletion, correction, transposition of voters who have migrated, died since the last summary revision, amid serious concern expressed by various political parties over the inclusion of non-locals as voters (sic), according to the latest order.Also read: ‘Anyone Living Ordinarily Can Enlist as Voter in J&K’: CEO’s Comment Sparks Outrage“…Keeping in view the urgency involved in the matter and to ensure that no eligible voter is left for registration during the Special Summary Revision, 2022 in district Jammu, all Tehsildars are authorised to issue certificate of residence after conducting necessary field verifications, to the person(s) residing in district Jammu for more than one year, for the purpose,” Lavasa said in her order.Quoting the guidelines by the Election Commission of India for registration of eligible voters, Lavasa said it also provides that in case none of the mentioned documents is available, “field verification is a must”.“As for example, categories like homeless Indian citizens who are otherwise eligible to become electors but do not possess any documentary proof of ordinary residence, electoral registration officers shall designate an officer for field verification…,” the order read.It said during review meetings taken with the field functionaries, including electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers, it has been noticed that some eligible voters are facing hardships in registration as voters for the non-availability of documents.Representative image. Voters stand in a queue to cast their votes in the assembly elections in J&K in 2016. Photo: PTI/File In August, chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar had stoked controversy by saying, “After the abrogation of Article 370, many people who were not enlisted as voters in the erstwhile state of J&K are now eligible to vote and in addition anyone who is living ordinarily can also avail the opportunity to get enlisted as a voter in J&K in accordance with the provisions of representation of the Peoples Act.”Opposition flays the latest orderReacting to the order, the National Conference tweeted, “The Government is going ahead with its plan to add 25 lakh non-local voters in J&K and we continue to oppose this move. BJP is scared of the elections & knows it will lose badly. People of J&K must defeat these conspiracies at the ballot box.”PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday flayed the Election Commission’s order for registration of new voters in Jammu, charging that the Centre’s “colonial settler project” has been initiated in the region.The former J-K chief minister said the BJP’s alleged attempts to create religious and regional divisions between Jammu and Kashmir must be “thwarted” because “whether it is a Kashmiri or a Dogra, safeguarding our identity and rights will be possible only if we put up a collective fight”.“ECI’s latest order for registration of new voters makes it clear that GOIs colonial settler project has been initiated in Jammu. They will bear the first blow to Dogra culture, identity, employment & business,” she charged on Twitter.Also read: How Long Will J&K Have to Wait for Assembly Elections?In the aftermath of Hirdesh Kumar’s comments in August, opposition political parties made it a common cause to oppose the move. The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), headed by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, on Saturday had announced the formation of a 14-member committee to chalk out a strategy on the issue of any attempt of manipulation and inclusion of non-locals in the revised electoral rolls.The panel has members from the five PAGD constituents and several other political parties such as the Congress, the Shiv Sena, the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) and the Dogra Sadar Sabha (DSS).As The Wire reported earlier, despite repeated statements by the Union government, led by the BJP, the restoration of electoral democracy in J&K appears unlikely to occur this year.Politicians have raised such concerns citing that the Election Commission of India has been delaying the publication of the final electoral roll, a mandatory process before election dates are announced.The Union territory has been without an elected government since June 2018, when the BJP withdrew support to Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party-led coalition government, citing “deteriorating security situation” in the erstwhile state.This is the third longest spell of bureaucratic rule in any state or Union territory with a legislature in independent India’s history.(With PTI inputs)