Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the Election Commission should not rush to carry out a nationwide special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but rather wait for the Bihar assembly election to get over.
According to officials, the Election Commission is likely to announce a pan-India SIR of the voters’ list on Monday evening.
Speaking to reporters in his assembly office chamber here after the House proceedings were adjourned for the day, Abdullah said, “There are already apprehensions about SIR in Bihar. It is not clear yet whether there will be any benefits of this exercise for those undertaking it.”
“Let the elections in Bihar be completed, then we will see whether it was beneficial at all. Then we can talk about implementing it in the rest of the country,” he said.
He advised the poll body not to “rush into a nationwide SIR”.
“Otherwise, it will seem as if ECI has lost its independence and is working under pressure from a particular political party. We have seen this before as well.
“Delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir was not done for the benefit of the people but for a political party. The way new seats were divided and new seats created; it directly benefited only one political party. The EC should not make this kind of mistake,” the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister added.
Abdullah rubbished suggestions that there was an understanding between his National Conference (NC) and the BJP for the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir.
While NC won three seats, BJP managed a victory on one seat in the polling held last week.
Rejecting such insinuations, “There was no understanding (with the BJP on RS polls). Please understand that the National Conference is the only party in Jammu and Kashmir which takes the BJP head-on. Nobody else is doing that.”
“We are not those who enter into secret pacts. If we had to do it, we would have done it openly. I did not support the Vajpayee government behind closed doors; I joined the NDA. Whether it was right or wrong, is another issue,” the chief minister said.
Abdullah said he wants the relations between his government and the Centre to be cordial so that governance is not affected.
He, however, pointed out that there is a huge difference in relations between governments and relations between the NC and the BJP. “There is no relation between NC and the BJP, and it will not form in future also.”
Responding to Handwara MLA Sajad Gani Lone’s accusation that the Rajya Sabha polls were a “fixed match”, Abdullah said he did not understand why a person would comment on an election when he was not even ready to take part.
“Let him first say what was his compulsion to help the BJP. If he did not want match fixing to take place, he should have used his vote,” he said.
Abdullah said the media was acting surprised over the outcome of the Rajya Sabha polls.
“You had declared the outcome much before the voting began. Were you also part of the match-fixing? We still fought it out. The difficulty started with MLA Handwara sitting out. BJP needed only 29 after that, and they had 28. One or two would have been easy for them, but I didn’t think they would get four. Now those four who sold their conscience will have to answer to Allah or Bhagwan,” he said.
The NC leader said he would like the names of the MLAs who cross-voted or deliberately wasted their votes to come out in public. “Four votes went in favour of the BJP, three deliberately destroyed their votes. Clearly, the BJP attempted to lure people. On what basis they were lured, only the BJP can answer,” he added. (Agencies)
