PDP: Defer Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll indefinitely

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is reported to have urged the Election Commission of India to defer the bypoll to the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat indefinitely in view of the hostile atmosphere in the Valley.

The PDP’s candidate and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s cinematographer-turned-politician brother, Mufti Tassaduq Hussain, made this plea during a video conference with EC officials on Monday.

The video conference was held during a meeting held here at which a team of ECI reviewed the be-poll preparedness and assessed security situation in Anantnag.

During the meeting, which was held around same time when PDP’s district president Abdul Gani Dar was killed by suspected militants outside his home in southern Pulwa-ma district, poll officials were briefed by J&K’s chief electoral officer Sha-ntmanu, divisional commissioner Baseer A. Khan, IGP (Kashmir range), DIG CRPF and concerned district election officers about the bypoll preparedness and security situation particularly in South Kashmir.

Mr Shantmanu also held a separate detailed meeting with representatives of political parties, contesting candidates, officers of the police and other security agencies.
in which district election officers and SSPs of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts participated through video conferencing. The Opposition National Conference (NC) and the Congress, however, boycotted these meetings.

The official sources said that Mr Hussain asked the EC to defer the bypoll seat indefinitely till the situation is conducive it.

The voting in Anantnag was to be held on April 12 but the same was deferred by the EC till May 25 in view of large scale violence witnessed during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat on April 9.

The by-poll to the Srinagar seat was marred not only by violence in which nine people were killed and dozens wounded in security forces’ actions against protesters and stone-pelting mobs but also a meagre 7.1 percent of over 1.2 million voters turned up to use their democratic.

Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has also asked the authorities to cancel the by-poll in Anantnag reiterating that the people of Kashmir have rejected such exercises and that what happened in Srinagar a fortnight ago was “clear ideological, political and moral victory” for the people of Kashmir and “a huge achievement they should be proud of.”

However, the NC which won the Srinagar election has said that the PDP is “scared” because it has “foreseen its defeat” in Anantnag too. J&K PCC chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir who is seeking election to Lok Sabha from home constituency Anantnag as the joint candidate of opposition Congress and (NC), incensed by the EC decision to defer the polling, had said he will withdraw unless Governor’s rule is imposed in the State.

The Anantnag seat fell vacant due to the resignation of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti following her taking over as Chief Minister of the State last year.