Omar Abdullah does not favour coalition govt in J&K

Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah favours early Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and has expressed the hope that the people of the state will give mandate for a single party rule, instead of a coalition government in the state as has been witnessed since 2002.

In an interview to PTI, the former chief minister said Assembly election in the state can be held in a three-to-five week period soon after the Lok Sabha polls are over as adequate security forces will be available.

The final phase of Lok Sabha election is on May 19 and the counting of votes is on May 23.

“We definitely have a window (after the Lok Sabha polls and before Amarnath Yatra). It is possible to hold assembly elections in J&K over a three-to-five-week period. You can start with the last couple of phases of Parliament elections, if you like. Then you have the entire month of June to have elections,” Mr Abdullah said.

The NC vice-president said he had no reason to believe that Election Commission was not looking at the possibility of conducting the Assembly election in the state at the earliest.

He, however, said there should not be any delay in polls due to Amarnath Yatra, which starts from the first week of July, as the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas is limited to two assembly segments.

“If (Muslim fasting mo-nth of) Ramzan is not a hindrance to Parliament elections, why is Amar-nath yatra a hindrance to assembly elections? Ama-rnath yatra takes place in two districts — Anantnag and Ganderbal. Technic-ally, it is only in two constituencies — Pahalgam and Kangan,” Mr Abdullah said.     — PTI

He said Assembly elections can be scheduled in such a way that the polls finish with these two constituencies either before the yatra or immediately after the yatra.

“There will be no security forces required anywhere else in the country once Parliament elections are over. You put extra forces here,” he said.

He said any such reason to delay elections “will just be an excuse from those people who are trying to hold on to power in Jammu and Kashmir rather than transfer power back to the people”.