EC mulls enlisting 'enclave residents' as voters

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The Election Commission (EC) for the first time is going to enlist more than 0.30 million Bangladeshis living in 51 'enclaves' inside India as voters.
Election Commissioner Shakhawat Hossain disclosed this in the city Sunday while talking to reporters after holding a meeting with Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury, reports bdnews24.com.
The election commissioner told reporters that the enclave residents are citizens of Bangladesh and the EC would include them in the digital voters' list, providing them with nationality identity (ID) cards.
"The EC is seeking the foreign adviser's assistance in this connection," Shakhawat added.
The foreign adviser has been requested by the EC to notify the Indian government in a bilateral secretary-level meeting about the decision to enlist the enclave residents, according to the commissioner.
"This will also involve meetings with Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the Indian Border Security Force (BSF)," he said.
The foreign adviser was also urged to lend a helping hand to the EC proposal for opening desks in embassies abroad to enlist more than 10 million non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) as voters.
"We would like to enlist the NRBs for the first time to give them a sense of belonging," the election commissioner said.