Srinagar: The Election Commission seems to be in no hurry to conduct the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir and manages to find “new excuses to delay” the elections, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday.
“When asked about assembly elections in J&K, the chief election commissioner acknowledged a ‘vacuum that needs to be filled’. Yet surprisingly the @ECISVEEP seems to be in no hurry to conduct elections, on the contrary they manage to find new excuses to delay polls,” Abdullah wrote on Twitter.
He was referring to the comments made by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar at a presser in New Delhi called to announce the Karnataka poll dates.
Abdullah said it has been eight years since the last assembly elections were conducted in J&K, and five years since it had an elected government.
“It’s plainly obvious the BJP in J&K is terrified of facing the people but it isn’t the job of the Election Commission to give the BJP a shield to cower behind,” the former chief minister said.
Meanwhile, in a statement here, the National Conference (NC) said the further delay in holding assembly elections in J&K is “unfortunate” and puts a question mark on the role of the Election Commission of India.
NC’s state spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said it was expected of the EC to announce assembly elections in J&K with the Karnataka polls.
“To our surprise and dismay, ECI once again skipped J&K from its scheme of things. It seems as if people of J&K have been relegated to a deep abyss and forgotten,” Dar said.
There seems to be no reason in further delaying the assembly elections as the weather is also getting pleasant and suitable for conducting any electoral exercise, he said.
“They have only two reasons for delaying the polls further. One could be the worsening security situation which they claim has improved, and the second ECI giving a cover to BJP who are afraid to face the voters,” the spokesperson said.
“If the elections can be held in Karnataka, why can’t they happen in J&K? BJP doesn’t give a toss to people’s mounting woes. All it is concerned about is its electoral prospects. They know they will lose badly here because of their dealings,” he added. (With inputs from PTI)
