Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina on Monday called a meeting of top party leaders against the all-party meeting called by National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah over the inclusion of non-local voters. A counter-strategy was drawn up. The BJP meeting will be held at the party headquarters in Trikuta Nagar, Jammu at 11 am. Farooq Abdullah will hold an all-party meeting today. The meeting will discuss the future course of action by the Election Commission with regard to allowing outsiders to register as voters in the Union Territory.
NC State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said, “With regard to the announcement of the CEO that non-locals would be added as voters in J&K, Dr. Farooq Abdullah held an APM( All-party meeting) has been called.” Jammu and Kashmir Union Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Hirdesh Kumar said last week that for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370, non-locals can now vote in the assembly elections in the union territory following the special summary amendment of the electoral rolls. can.
Former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have criticized the move, calling it a “dangerous attempt” to influence the elections. Omar said the BJP wanted to import “provisional voters” as the saffron party was insecure about support from “genuine voters” of Jammu and Kashmir. “Is the BJP so insecure about the support of genuine voters of J&K that it needs to import provisional voters to win seats? When the people of J&K are given a chance to exercise their franchise, none of these things will help the BJP. PDP chief Mufti said, “The Indian government’s decision to defer the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, by first tilting the balance in favor of the BJP and now allowing non-locals to vote, clearly affects the election results. The real aim is to continue to rule J&K to weaken the local people.”