Srinagar- The Election Commission’s decision to postpone the voting for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat to the sixth phase on May 25 has sparked outrage among the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC).
Both parties have expressed strong opposition to the move, with senior leaders accusing the Commission of favoring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies.
PDP, led by Mehbooba Mufti, reacted vehemently to the postponement, asserting that no matter what obstacles arise, Mufti’s victory as MP is inevitable. Meanwhile, NC Vice President Omar Abdullah condemned the decision, alleging that it was a deliberate attempt to benefit the BJP and its allies.
Addressing concerns over the delayed polls, Mehbooba criticized the lack of explanation from officials and questioned their motives. She said there seems to be collusion at play between these officials and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to manipulate the electoral process. “The government has deliberately extended the election date here to make this path hazardous for me. Despite facing economic hardships themselves, my workers are spending money from their own pockets to sponsor my campaign. The officers who have delayed the polls have not provided any reasons for this. It raises questions about whether these officers are also colluding with the ECI?,” Mehbooba asked.
Omar Abdullah said that an attempt is being made to benefit BJP and its allies. Otherwise, there is no reason to postpone the elections. He criticized the Election Commission for disregarding the concerns raised by political parties and accused them of favoritism.
Responding to another question about the party’s strength and its chances of victory in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, he said, “All I can say is, I have full faith in the people. We have full faith in Allah.” NC candidate and former minister Mian Altaf Ahmed also criticized the ECI, claiming that he had never seen such an example of election postponement in the history of elections.
Altaf told reporters, “There is no such example in history where elections have been postponed. I have never heard of elections being postponed just because of landslides. This is the first time this has happened. This is an undemocratic step.”
He alleged that people’s anger against the system will further increase. There is no justification for such a step. The seat, created after delimitation by adding the people of Anantnag with the Rajouri-Poonch belt, is unjust and cruel. People have already felt it. They are unhappy with this. This is just an excuse. The Election Commission has postponed the elections for the rescheduled Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, which was originally scheduled for May 7, until May 25.
On the Election Commission deferring the Lok Sabha polls in the Lok Sabha polls in the newly created Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that by deferring the polls, the government of India has accepted their many mistakes. “Boundaries were not fixed properly during the delimitation…. It created problems for the system as well as the people. And that their delimitation process, especially for the Lok Sabha was wrong.”
The Anantnag-Rajouri seat has garnered significant attention due to the high-profile contest between PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti and NC’s candidate Mian Altaf.
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti’s media advisor and daughter, Iltija Mufti, took to social media to denounce the postponement, alleging that it was motivated by fear of Mufti’s overwhelming victory. She vowed to overcome the challenge and ensure Mufti’s triumph with a significant margin.
PDP Holds Protest
Meanwhile PDP workers led by senior party leader Naeem Akhtar on Wednesday held a protest against the Election Commission of India’s decision to defer the polling in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat from May 7 to May 25.
The PDP demanded that the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s report which led to the postponement of the poll be made public.
The Election Commission on Tuesday postponed polls to the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat to May 25, citing logistical issues due to adverse weather conditions.
Former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti had urged the Election Commission last week not to postpone polls.
Dozens of PDP workers assembled at the PDP headquarters on Residency Road near GPO here and raised slogans against the BJP and the Election Commission of India for deferring the polls. A posse of policemen prevented the PDP workers from marching out on the road.
Speaking to reporters, Akhtar said the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency was carved out at the behest of the BJP as part of a process to exploit the religious and caste fault lines in the region.
“The constituency is spread over some parts of south Kashmir and two districts of Poonch and Rajouri. First, it is a geographical oddity. Anyways, they have made it with the purpose of exploiting the caste and religious fault lines and disrupting the unity of the people against abrogation Article 370 and Article 35A,” Akhtar said.
“It was a pre-poll rigging committed through a delimitation commission. The document prepared by the delimitation commission tried to target a particular section by disenfranchising and dispossessing them,” he said.
Abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 was not an event but an ongoing process of dispossession and disenfranchisement of people of Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP leader said.
“And a part of that process is that they tried to finish off the PDP by creating new parties like bonsai plants which have been kept by the BJP as showpieces for the world.
“However, they have realised that the wind is blowing in the opposite direction due to our leader Mehbooba Mufti and our cadres. The people of Jammu and Kashmir getting united despite their efforts to create divisions,” he said.
Akhtar said there are four recognised parties which are taking part in the election –“ PDP, Congress, NC and CPI(M). Only the BJP sought deferment of the polls even though it has not fielded a candidate there, he said.
Asserting that the Election Commission has become a tool of the BJP, Akhtar said there was enough evidence of this across the country.
“They have snatched everything from Jammu and Kashmir — from autonomy to the constitution to our rights. We tell the Election Commission of India to desist from these things. It should not further this process (of disenfranchisement). You are being part of a crime which is not only against Jammu and Kashmir but the entire country.
“We demand that the report on the basis of which the polls have been deferred be made public so that we get to know whether the officers serving in Jammu and Kashmir are working for interests of people of Jammu and Kashmir or to fulfil the orders of their masters,” he added.
The Election Commission had asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to immediately submit a detailed report on road conditions, weather and accessibility to the region which covers parts of South Kashmir and areas in Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region.
Akhtar said his party will continue their fight for restoration of rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir through peaceful, constitutional and democratic means.
“We assure the people that we will not resign, we will not give up but we will not take the path taken by some after 1987 (militancy). We will fight it constitutionally and democratically,” he added.
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