Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti questions call to defer Anantnag-Rajouri polls

Mehbooba, who is contesting the polls from the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, said that she has addressed a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the proposed rescheduling of the polling day for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir.

The JKPDP leader noted that ECI has never before in the history of Jammu and Kashmir postponed any elections due to inclement weather conditions. She claimed that postponing the elections to a later date "will result in denying a level playing field to all the parties".

Pertinently, the Election Commission has received requests to reschedule the poll date for the General Election to Lok Sabha 2024 in the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary Constituency of Jammu and Kashmir. 

The Commission communicated to Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Secretary and Chief Electoral Officer, sharing representations from various political parties, candidates, and individuals, including Imran Reza Ansari from the J&K Peoples' Conference, BJP's Ravinder Raina, Apni Party's Altaf Bukhari, J&K Nationalist People's Front, Adv Mohammad SaleemParay, Ali Mohammad Wani (a candidate), and Arsheed Ali Lone (a candidate).

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In a social media post on social networking platform X (formerly Twitter), the JKPDP chief said, "Wrote to the ECI regarding the proposed delay for the Anantnag - Rajouri Lok Sabha seat. Any attempt to delay it will result in denying a level playing field to all the parties."

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Meanwhile, the letter further notes that PDP strongly opposes rescheduling proposal which is targeted at "derailing our campaign". "The main alliance partner of the petitioners, BJP, is headquartered in Jammu and does not therefore face any difficulty in accessing Pir Panjal and have a widespread cadre in the area."

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In Phase 2 of the Lok Sabha Elections, polling is taking place on April 26 in the Jammu constituency of Jammu and Kashmir. Elections in the Udhampur constituency were conducted on April 19, while polling in the other constituencies - Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar, and Baramulla - will be held in the next five phases on May 7, May 13, and May 20, respectively.

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Published: 26 Apr 2024, 01:14 PM IST