SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President, Mehbooba Mufti, on Friday questioned the demands from some political parties for the deferment of polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat, claiming that these were attempts to keep her “out of the Parliament”. Addressing a press conference in the Surankote area of Poonch, Mehbooba said the fresh circular issued by the ECI was surprising as a few political parties “patronized by BJP” have demanded the postponement of the Lok Sabha election in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat. Notably, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday, in a notification, stated that representations have been received from Imran Reza Ansari (JK Peoples Conference), Ravinder Raina (BJP J&K), Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari (Apni Party), J&K Nationalist People’s Front, Apni Party, Advocate Mohammad Saleem Parray, Ali Mohammad Wani, Arsheed Ali Lone, who have requested to reschedule the poll date in the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary seat. Mehbooba Mufti, while replying to the notification, said, “I am extremely surprised over the demand. I reached here after travelling on the Mughal Road. The road normally used to open for traffic in May, but due to election authorities, it was thrown open on April 8 this year.” She questioned, “What is the guarantee that the road, which is prone to landslides, will remain open in the future?” She warned that any attempt to tinker with the poll schedule in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat by the Election Commission of India (ECI) will have bad repercussions. She appealed to the NDA government and ECI to refrain from such “misadventures as it will demoralize the confidence of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the electoral process they exhibited once again after August 2019.” Mehbooba said that the PDP has insufficient resources and its workers are paying expenses from their pockets, so it will not be feasible for them to bear the brunt of poll deferment. She urged the ECI to disclose the reasons behind the proposed deferment. “I want to convey to the BJP and ECI that the people of J&K have once again shown confidence in the electoral process. I want to tell them that any misadventure will create a bad impression. What have you left for the people of J&K? Everything has been snatched. Do you want to repeat 1987, owing to which Kashmir has been burning since?” she questioned. She said if New Delhi wants her to remain away from elections, they should come clean on the matter.
