All J&K political parties welcome ECI Assembly poll announcement

Srinagar: All political parties in J&K on Friday welcomed the ECI Assembly poll announcement scheduled for September in the three-phase.

Senior J&K Congress leader and AICC General Secretary G.A. Mir thanked the Election Commission for announcing elections in J&K, adding that the last elections were held here in 2014.

 “Supreme Court’s supremacy has been upheld because of the ECI’s announcement,” Mir said.

The apex court had set September 30 as the deadline for the Assembly elections in the UT.

M.Y.Tarigami of the CPI M said that the ECI announcement has come after a long time, and it is a welcome step.

He said the ECI has assured free and fair polls with a level playing field for every party and sufficient security for the candidates

The Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) headed by former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has also welcomed the ECI decision saying it is better late than never.

BJP has also welcomed the ECI’s announcement.

 “The election commission is an independent and highly respected organisation of the country whose impartiality and efficiency are recognised throughout the world. We welcome the ECI’s decision and will fight elections in J&K. We have removed the barriers of Article 370 and 35A. We have liberated J&K from the shackles of ‘Do Nisan, Do Pradhan and Do Vidhan’,” Tarun Chugh, BJP National General Secretary and Incharge J&K Affairs, told media persons.

He said that with the people’s blessings and under the guidance of Prime Narendra Modi, he is certain that the people of J&K will vote for BJP.

 “From terrorism, the focus has shifted to tourism and J&K is becoming the industrial hub of the country. There have been positive developments under the leadership of the Prime Minister in J&K,” he said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also welcomed the announcement. “PDP welcomes this move, but we have a few questions. Why were elections not held on time? Why did it take so much time?” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti told media persons.

She said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir from all sections are suffering.

Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah was the first to welcome the decision while he also questioned the administrative changes in J&K.

 “After 1987-88, this is the shortest phased assembly election being held in J&K. For the political parties, this is a new experience. But the NC has been preparing for the elections for a long time. We will soon start our election campaign,” the former Chief Minister told media persons in Srinagar.

The former chief minister expressed reservations about the transfers and postings made by the Lt Governor (L-G) headed administration on Friday.

 “The L-G belongs to the BJP. These transfers have been made to favour the ‘A’, ‘B’ or the ‘C’ team of the ruling party,” Omar Abdullah said.

He said that the Election Commissioner has laid emphasis on free and fair polls and the commission must review these transfers and if these transfer orders have made any violation of the guidelines, then the commission must put a stop to this practice.

 “We will also write a detailed letter to the Election Commission,” the former Chief Minister said.

Earlier, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that the J&K elections will be held in three phases: September 18, September 25 and October 1.

Counting would be held on October 4 and the entire poll process would be completed by October 6.

J&K has been without an elected government since June 2018 when the BJP pulled out of the PDP-BJP coalition government headed by Mehbooba Mufti.

The state was brought under the Governor’s rule who later dissolved the Assembly.

On August 5, 2019, Article 370 was watered down, and the state was bifurcated into two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.