Srinagar, Aug 29: In an unusual statement from Bharatiya Janata Party, its senior leader Prof Chaman Lal Gupta said Saturday that Muhammad Yusuf Shah, who is being called as Syed Salah-ud-din and is the supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was winning the election when they were rigged in 1987.
  “We have seen that Syed Salah-ud-din or Muhammad Yousf Shah was winning the election when they were rigged in 1987. We have also seen the DC Islamabad Khaliq Beg rejecting the nomination papers of 18 members from the area which ensured smooth win of the NC MLAs. We saw Congress party’s Prof Saif-ud-din Soz getting two per cent votes and representing people,” Gupta said, adding that the state had witnessed several dramas in past.
 While replying to Gupta’s statement, the minister for law and parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Sagar, said there was no provision in the state constitution to make voting compulsory.
 He said that people have every right to vote or not to vote in the democratic exercise, as there was no compulsion in this behalf.
 He said that such un-constitutional issues only spoil the precious time of the house, adding that these are raised for just playing to the gallery and gaining publicity.
 Keeping these and many things in view, Gupta said he had brought the resolution to make voting mandatory.  Responding, Sagar said government could not force people to vote.
 “Kashmir has a problem. There are people who want something else and we can’t force them to vote,” Sagar said.
 Gupta later withdrew the resolution.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 IST