National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday raised an eyebrow at the Election Commission’s decision to spread voting for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election over three phases.
Earlier today poll panel chief Rajiv Kumar said Jammu and Kashmir will vote on September 18 and 25, and October 1, with results due October 4. Speaking shortly afterwards, Mr Abdullah welcomed dates for first Assembly election in a decade for J&K, which has been under President’s Rule since 2018.
"After 1987-88 this is probably the first time an election is happening in phases. It will be a new experience. But I can say National Conference was already preparing," Mr Abdullah told reporters.
However, he also called on the Election Commission to take notice of concerns over the large-scale reshuffle of senior police officers, including the head of J&K Police's Intelligence unit, before polling.
READ | Major Admin Reshuffle In J&K Weeks Ahead Of Assembly Election
On that he said, "EC emphasised free-and-fair polls. We wrote to the EC on police transfers in the last 24 hours… they should take notice." He said the transfers may have been "done to benefit the BJP".
"That J&K administration called in officers to work on Independence Day to order this massive reshuffle tells me they had NO CLUE the ECI was announcing poll dates today," he said on X this afternoon.
That the J&K administration had to call officers in the secretariat & police HQ to work on Independence Day to order this massive reshuffle tells me they had absolutely NO CLUE that the ECI would be announcing poll dates today. All the more reason that the @ECISVEEP should look… https://t.co/KpUZNX09p2
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) August 16, 2024
"All the more reason Election Commission should look at (these) transfers from the prism of a free and fair poll," he said on X, adding suspicion of a "biased intent" by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Mr Abdullah also said "transfers outside (EC) guidelines should be stopped" and also called for security cover for mainstream political parties that had been withdrawn or reduced to be restored.
As part of the reshuffle, the districts of Jammu, Ramban, Kathua, Reasi, Udhampur, Doda, and Poonch, as well as Shopian and Ganderbal in the Kashmir Valley, got new police chiefs.
This has been seen as significant as these areas have seen a worrying increase in terrorism in the past weeks and months, prompting the central government to deploy a new security matrix in the region.
BJP Reacts To Poll Dates
Meanwhile, the BJP's J&K in-charge, Tarun Chugh, said, "The announcement of dates is worth welcoming… under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, J&K had become free of Article 370. People have faith in PM Modi… BJP will fight elections in J&K…"
Supreme Court's Landmark Ruling
In December last year the top court had directed the Election Commission to hold Assembly polls by September 30 of this year. The court was then hearing petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370 and the bifurcation of J&K into the union territories of J&K and Ladakh.
The court upheld the Article 370 decision but said steps should be taken for J&K to have a democratically elected government and for restoration of its statehood at the earliest.
READ | In Historic Jammu And Kashmir Ruling, Supreme Court Sets Election Deadline
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also upheld the decision to carve out the union territory of Ladakh in August 2019, weeks before an Assembly election was due.
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