Omar questions govt’s ability to hold simultaneous elections

Our Correspondent

Jammu/Srinagar, March 19

National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that if the Centre couldn’t hold Assembly and Lok Sabha elections together in J&K, how could it conduct simultaneous polls across the country? He was reacting to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar’s remark that officials of the Union Territory administration had expressed inability to conduct elections simultaneously in view of the requirement of a large number of security forces.

“When the CEC addressed a press conference, he said the EC and all political parties were ready for polls, but the current administration (in J&K) put hurdles, saying they need more security forces. In such a situation, I am forced to question that when no Assembly polls are being conducted in other states like UP and Bihar, and you cannot conduct simultaneous elections now, then when you talk about one nation, one election, and have to conduct the polls simultaneously in states like UP, MP and Bihar, then where will you get the forces from?” he asked while talking to reporters here.

He said the EC had an opportunity to conduct the Assembly polls in J&K, but the UT administration did not want to have elections as they did not want to leave power.

Missed opportunity

The EC had an opportunity to conduct Assembly polls in J&K, but the UT administration doesn't want to leave power. — Omar Abdullah, NC vice-president

Asked when the party would announce its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, the NC leader said they were in no hurry. “Only three candidates have been announced yet. The Congress and other parties have not announced (their candidates).... We are in no hurry,” he said.

In Jammu, NC’s provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta asserted that the BJP was bound to face a big shock in Jammu province as the “INDIA bloc was all set to decimate the saffron brigade” in all Lok Sabha seats in J&K.

In a statement, Gupta said, “The NC is already leading the fight to restore the fundamental and democratic rights of the people snatched away by the draconian Central dispensation in one way or the other.”

(With PTI inputs)

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