Srinagar, Mar 16: The political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have expressed resentment over the Election Commission of India’s decision not to hold parliamentary and assembly polls concurrently in J&K.
National Conference (NC) President and Member of Parliament, Farooq Abdullah termed the decision as disheartening, saying that the time was apt to implement the Centre’s vision of ‘One-nation, One–election’.
“We are very disheartened that the assembly polls have not been announced. Four states are slated to go for the simultaneous assembly polls, but in J&K, we have been denied the elections since 2014,” he said.
Abdullah said that there could be some suspicious reasons for the delay in holding assembly polls in J&K.
Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that the people in J&K were hoping for the concurrent parliamentary and assembly elections.
“If the situation is conducive for LS polls in J&K then why not for the assembly elections,” he said and termed the statement of ECI about the requirement of additional security for conducting assembly polls as a fake reason. “India is not a small state. If security can be arranged for the four states why can’t for J&K. This is nothing but a fake reason.”
Apni Party senior Vice President, Ghulam Hassan Mir also expressed disappointment over the ECI’s decision.
He said that they were expecting the ECI to announce concurrent assembly and parliamentary polls in J&K.
“It is unfortunate that the assembly polls have not been announced by the ECI when people were expecting it. We demand that there be early assembly polls in J&K,” Mir said.
Former minister Basharat Bukhari termed the exclusion of J&K from the other four states going to polls alongside Parliament elections as disappointing.
Bukhari said that the government has finally acknowledged that the situation in J&K was not all well.
He said this acknowledgement was in contrast to what the BJP had been making rhetoric of post Article 370 abrogation.
Reacting sharply to ECI’s decision not to hold Assembly and parliamentary elections simultaneously in J&K, Bukhari said that it was surprising to know that the situation for one EVM was conducive and adverse for another EVM.
Peoples Conference (PC) spokesman, Adnan Mir said, “We thought that the simultaneous polls would be announced in J&K, but we hope the assembly polls are held before September this year. The Supreme Court has already passed a direction to ECI in this regard and we just hope that the directions are followed and assembly polls are held before September 2024.”