Omar, Mufti urge EC not to postpone polls
SRINAGAR/JAMMU: A day after the Election Commission of India sought a report onthe weather and accessibility related constraints, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday asked the Election Commission not to postpone polls in Anantnag-rajouri seat.
The Lok Sabha seat is scheduled to go to polls in third phase on May 7.
The former chief ministers made the appeal after the EC sought a report from chief secretary Atal Dulloo and the chief electoral officer on representations submitted by some parties and three candidates seeking rescheduling of elections on the seat due to adverse weather conditions, including snowfall on the Mughal Road.
“I appeal to the EC that such a step should not be taken... The weird thing is that someof the people who have written to the EC are not contesting. If I write to the EC about constituencies in Tamil Nadu, etc. will they take notice?” Abdullah told a press conference in Srinagar.
He alleged that one of the reasons that the postponement was sought was to disenfranchise a big portion (Gujjar and Bakerwal) of the population, who go for migration
in May.
Will send wrong message: Mufti
Speaking to reporters in Surankote area of Poonch district, Mehbooba said, “They all have ganged up against me because they do not want to see me in Parliament. People, cutting across religious and party lines, are coming forward in my support and they are, therefore, using the Election Commission to defer and rig the elections.”
The PDP leader said she travelled through the Mughal Road which was recently opened for traffic.
“There is no justification in deferring voting in Anantnagrajouri seat. My request to the Election Commission is not to postpone the elections when only 10 days are left in the polling. This will send the wrong message and will have serious consequences,” she said before leaving for Mendhar town to carry forward her campaign.
Mehbooba referred to the alleged rigging in the 1987 assembly polls, leading to eruption of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, and said, “We request the Election Commission not to do such an adventure as the people in J&K have already suffered a lot and have little faith left in the electoral process.”
She said the BJP has a lot of money and can press helicopters in service for those they are supporting.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Vikar Rasool Wani said he was not surprised by what he described as BJP’S attempts to reschedule the polls. “They know that they are likely to face a significant defeat... the INDIA alliance will still emerge Victorious,’ he wrote on ‘X’.
The Congress is supporting the National Conference from the constituency as part of seatsharing agreement among INDIA bloc partners.
Wani’s BJP counterpart Ravinder Raina, meanwhile, said there are difficulties in campiaging in Anantnag-rajouri seat that owing to heavy snowfall.
“The Mughal road condition is bad. There are landslides. In
danys the coming t here will be more snowfall. That is why ECI has asked for a report from the J&K administration.”
Will follow EC’S decision: Jitendra Singh When asked about the apprehensions of poll postponement in Anantnag-rajouri, Union minister Jitendra Singh said the EC is an independent institution and whatever decision it takes with regard to elections in Anantnag-rajouri Lok Sabha seat will be followed by the BJP.
Anantnag-rajouri parliamentary constituency will see 21 candidates, including Mehbooba, who is facing a major challenge from National Conference leader and former minister Mian Altaf, contest the polls.
DPAP’S Mohammad Saleem Parray and Apni Party’s Zafar Iqbal Manhas are also among the contestants in the fray, while the BJP has not fielded any candidate and is contemplating its support to one of the contestants not linked to Congress, NC and PDP.
Among those who have submitted their representation to the EC include Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari, DPAP candidate, Peoples Conference leader Imran Reza Ansari and two Independent candidates.