Ghulam Nabi Azad, chairman of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) said on Thursday that the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to postpone polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency has come as a relief to several political parties.
The ECI postponed the polling date from May 7 to May 25 in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency.
Azad has been on an election campaign in Rajouri for his party candidate, Mohammad Saleem who is fighting the election from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat against Mian Altaf Ahmad of NC, Mehbooba Mufti of PDP and Zafar Iqbal Manhas of J&K Apni Party.
The Congress is supporting the NC while the BJP and the People’s Conference (PC) are supporting the Apni Party candidate.
Justifying the ECI decision to postpone the poll dates in the constituency, Azad said that it took him three days to reach Rajouri through Jammu and another three days to return. He wondered how successful any poll campaign would be if a party candidate took six days and three nights to reach one polling district of his constituency.
Talking about the Mughal Road that connects the two districts of Kashmir with the two districts of Jammu division which constitute the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, Azad said the road was still closed due to snowfall and rain.
Asked whether the postponement of polls would affect the voting rights of the nomadic Bakarwals who move to cooler meadows of the Valley with their livestock, Azad said that the members of the Bakarwal community move out in June and by then the voting would have since ended in their constituency.
Talking about the criticism of the EVMs by political parties, he said if the Congress and the regional parties win then the EVMs are okay and if their opponents win then they blame the EVMs.
He emphasised the need for a Legislative Assembly in J&K adding that the union territory must have a democratically elected government.