Srinagar, Sep 23: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday called for "corrective action" over concerns surrounding the electoral process, saying that if people's trust in elections is lost, "then what is left in the democracy?.
Omar said the report was significant in the backdrop of concerns that have previously been raised over the functioning of the poll panel.
"We have had persistent complaints about the way in which the Election Commission has functioned. Before SIR (Special Intensive Revision) became an issue for the rest of the country, for us, delimitation was an issue," he told reporters in Srinagar.
He alleged that the delimitation process- carried out in J&K post the abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre in August 2019- had been opaque and flawed and claimed it was "designed to benefit one political party and its friends."
"Given what has been shown, the internal divisions within the Election Commission, clearly, they say that there is something fishy," he said, adding that the statement issued by the poll panel after the news report was "even more damning."
Omar stressed that public confidence in elections was essential to democracy.
"There is a need to take some corrective action. Otherwise, if people's trust in the election is lost, then what is left in the democracy?" he asked.
"The basis of democracy is elections, and if people's trust in the elections is lost, then why should people participate in the elections?" Omar said, urging the Election Commission and the union Government to look into this.
Omar also backed the remark of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accusing the ruling BJP and the poll panel of treason.
"If you are stopping someone from voting, where it is their right to vote and they want to vote, and unfortunately, some people who were removed from the voter list, that became an excuse not to give them passports, so what if it is not an attack on the Constitution?" he said.
"What Rahul said is absolutely right. And now we will have to see what steps will be taken to rectify this," Omar added.