Shillong, April 19: A section of sitting Meghalaya legislators has been accused of pressurising state election officials to register “doubtful” voters in the voter list with an eye on the 2013 polls.

According to a conglomerate of social organisations, the legislators are even providing certificates vouching for prospective voters who have doubtful antecedents.

Although guided by norms, election officials are powerless, as the pressure from higher-ups eventually decides who should become a voter.

“We have learnt that while the election officials have detected several dubious people who come to enrol themselves in the electoral rolls, there is a lot of pressure from a section of the politicians on the officials to register such people,” Joe Marwein, working president of Federation of Khasi-Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) told reporters here today, after a meeting with other organisations.

Apart from the FKJGP, the KSU, Hynniewtrep National Youth Front and Synjuk Seng Samla Shnong met to decide on the future course of action after the Meghalaya government failed to act on their petition to protest against the enrolment of migrants in the electoral rolls.

Last week, the organisations had submitted a letter to chief minister Mukul Sangma expressing vehement opposition to the enrolment of members belonging to the floating population of the state.

Today also marked the end of the deadline issued to the government to act on the petition.

The organisations have decided to arrange a public meeting on Monday at Motphran here to announce a series of agitation programmes to be launched in order to compel the government to put in place necessary measures and ensure that migrants and other foreign elements do not get enrolled on the voter list.

“We feel that through agitation programmes, the government will wake up to the reality of putting our indigenous society in danger. Our stand is not anti-Indian, but we want to safeguard our own people,” Marwein said, adding that the agitation programmes would be held across the state.

According to him, Shillong North, East, West and South constituencies are the major areas where the concentration of doubtful voters is high.

“The situation is grave because we fear that a time would come when non-tribal people would start demanding the conversion of even reserved Assembly seats into general constituencies,” the FKJGP leader said.

However, even areas under Jaintia Hills district, especially in the coal-mining belt and parts of West Khasi Hills, are experiencing a similar threat, Marwein said. “Organisations from other areas also have lent their support to our plan of action to achieve the desired results,” he added.

KSU president Daniel Khyriem appealed to the headmen to refrain from randomly issuing certificates to individuals.

He also asked them not to succumb to the pressure from politicians.

As part of the struggle to safeguard the indigenous population, the organisations also wanted a law in place to make enrolment of voters more stringent.

Last week, through a petition, the organisations had said, “As a tribal state, we feel that this legal assimilation of non-tribal population in our state is posing a danger to the tribal people and defeats the very purpose of our statehood. We are not against the enrolment of genuine non-tribal people who have shared their history with the people of the state and our race. But we are against the enrolment of any floating population in our state.”