PDP, NC object to demand for deferring Anantnag poll

Our Correspondent

Srinagar, April 26

Demands for the rescheduling of Lok Sabha polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat have brought the NC and PDP together in warning the Election Commission (EC) to desist from any such move.

NC vice-president and former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said: “The EC must consider the views of other parties as well. The demand has not come from all parties.”

Omar accused the BJP and its “subsidiary parties” along with the administration of Jammu and Kashmir of hatching a conspiracy to reschedule polls in the segment by citing bad road conditions on the Mughal road, which links the Valley with Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu.

Mehbooba raises rigging fears

You want to repeat 1987. You know rigging in 1987 polls created the present conditions in J&K and led to its bleeding and graveyards. —Mehbooba Mufti, PDP Chief

The EC has sought a report from the J&K administration on road conditions, weather and accessibility-related constraints on the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary constituency, which is scheduled to go to polls in the third phase on May 7.

Representations have been submitted seeking a reschedule by BJP J&K chief Ravinder Raina, Peoples Conference leader Imran Reza Ansari, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party representative Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, member of the J&K Nationalist People’s Front, Advocate Mohammad Saleem Parray, and independent candidates Ali Mohammad Wani and Arsheed Ali Lone.

The main contest in the constituency of Anantnag is between NC candidate Mian Altaf and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. “For some days, we have been hearing that the BJP and their partner parties are trying to hatch such a conspiracy and the excuse is that the Mughal road is not in good condition,” Omar said with the party candidate Mian Altaf beside him.

Meanwhile, Mehbooba has also questioned the calls for deferring the poll. She said the EC has never before in the history of Jammu and Kashmir postponed any election due to inclement weather conditions.

Campaigning in the Rajouri-Poonch area, Mehbooba Mufti said that while the road remained closed for a few days, it was opened on April 8. “The parties who have sought delay are part of the BJP and the BJP, being a rich party, can provide them with a helicopter if they want to campaign,” she added.

“You want to repeat 1987. You know the rigging in the 1987 polls created the present conditions in J&K and led to its bleeding and graveyards,” she said.

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