J&K parties set up 14-member committee to counter move to include non-locals in voter list

Jammu & Kashmir-based political parties have set up a committee comprising senior leaders of different parties to chalk out strategy regarding the inclusion of non-locals in the revised electoral rolls of the erstwhile state.

The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) said on Saturday that the panel has members from the five constituents from the region’s political parties and several other leaders from the Congress, the Shiv Sena, the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) and the Dogra Sadar Sabha (DSS).

In a statement, CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami said that an all-party meeting was held on September 10, wherein it was decided that a committee will be set up to chalk out future strategy on the issue of inclusion of non-locals in the revised electoral rolls in J&K, according to Kashmiri Times.

“All of us are together to stop the onslaught that is taking place in Jammu and Kashmir (since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019). This (giving voting rights to people from outside) is the biggest among all and it is not acceptable to us,” Mr Abdullah had told reporters in Jammu after chairing the “all-party” meet.

The PAGD, an amalgam of five political parties — NC, PDP, CPI(M), CPI and the Awami National Conference (ANC) — is campaigning for the restoration of the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The alliance held two meetings – one in Srinagar on August 22 and another in Jammu on September 10, toughening its stand on the issue of inclusion of non-locals as voters in the erstwhile state.

The concern on the issue triggered in August after the then chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar said that Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of the electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, according to an NDTV report.

The panel has been announced nearly a month after afore-mentioned parties arrived at a consensus on the issue at a meeting chaired by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah. PAGD spokesperson M Y Tarigami said National Conference (NC) MP Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi will be the panel’s convenor. The other members of the committee include working president of Jammu and Kashmir Congress Raman Bala, former MP Sheikh Abdul Rehman, NC provincial president (Jammu) Rattan Lal Gupta, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leaders Mehboob Beg and A S Reen, former minister and DSSP president Chowdhary Lal Singh and former minister and DSS president Gulchain Singh Charak, Tarigami said. – INDIA NEWS STREAM