NEW DELHI: ECI overlooked the suggestions put forth by the ruling National Conference, that elections in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir be postponed. ECI V S Sampath said the recent calamity will have no special impact on polls.
He said post-flood situation, along with other aspects like climate, festivals and law and order situation, have been taken into account while deciding the poll schedule.
Except for one political party, most of the political parties (in Jammu and Kashmir) were in favour of holding elections on time. They said there is no reason, no justification for delaying the polls. The ECs mandate is to hold elections on time, he said.
Also None Of The Above Option (NOTA) has been made available in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) through which a voter has a choice to reject all the contesting candidates.
The state witnessed debate in the past over the introduction of NOTA in Jammu and Kashmir with a major chunk of separatists terming it a non- issue and some of the senior mainstream players feared that the option might be misused by the separatist elements in JK. Congress veteran and a minister Taj Mohi-ud-din also wrote a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi asking her to take a note of introduction of NOTA in Jammu and Kashmir.
Separatist leader and chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar in an interview had termed the NOTA option interesting, saying through this option the people of Kashmir can tell to the world what they want. The current six-year term of the Jammu and Kashmir government comes to an end on January 5, 2015.
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