Srinagar/Mumbai/Bhopal: The mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are upset with Election Commission (EC)’s decision not to hold the State Assembly elections along with those for Lok Sabha. Some of these have openly accused the EC of toeing the government line on the issue.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had on Sunday while announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections at a press conference in New Delhi said that the State Assembly polls cannot be held for security constraints in the backdrop of recent violent incidents in the State.
Rejecting the argument as lame excuse, former Union minister and president of National Conference (NC) Farooq Abdullah said, “I’m surprised over what they are saying. They are contradicting themselves”.
He asked, “If the environment is conducive for Lok Sabha polls, then why isn’t it conducive for the State Assembly elections?” If the situation is that bad then they should not conduct the Parliament polls either”.
Former chief minister and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti while reacting to the EC decision wrote on micro-blogging site “Decision to hold only Parliamentary elections in J&K confirms sinister designs of GoI (Government of India). Not letting people elect a government is antithetical to the very idea of democracy. Also a tactic of buying time to disempower people by pushing an agenda that suits their ulterior motives”.
Lok Sabha elections will be held in Maharashtra, which has the second highest number of seats after Uttar Pradesh, in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29, as per the Election Commission of India. The opposition parties in the state felt that the elections could have been held in three phases as earlier with better planning.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “There is a lack of planning while holding the elections in the state. It could have been done in a better way.”
However, the BJP has refused to get involved in any controversy over the scheduling of elections. BJP Spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, “It is the prerogative of the election commission to decide holding elections in how many phases.”
Similarly, the Congress has found the schedule of Lok Sabha polls declared for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the longest so far, “unusual”, but the party at the same time made it clear that it respected the EC’s decision.
Madhya Pradesh had witnessed three phase elections each in 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The forthcoming parliamentary polls in MP were scheduled to be conducted in four phases from April 29 to May 19.
“It is the longest poll schedule witnessed in election history of Madhya Pradesh. I find it unusual. But, it is the responsibility of EC to hold free and fair polls. EC is a constitutional body. We respect EC’s decision in this regard”, senior Congress leader and former minister Raja Pateria told this newspaper on Monday. Mr Pateria however ruled out any pattern in election schedules particularly in non-BJP-ruled states in the country as murmured in political circles in states like West Bengal.
