Just two days ahead of the Srinagar Lok Sabha election, J&K’s two regional parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC), on Saturday accused the administration of “ bias” and “unjust crackdown on party activists”.
Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, PDP candidate from the Srinagar seat, sought the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Union Home Ministry against officials. “Actions of certain officials influenced by one political party are reminiscent of the mistakes made by the Congress and the National Conference (NC) in 1987. Arrests, harassment, and raids on PDP workers undermine the essence of democracy. We demand free and fair elections. Manipulating elections equals rigging and echoes of the dark days of 1987, killing hopes in democracy. Hope you won’t let anyone derail the process,” Mr. Parra said.
According to the PDP, around 50 PDP supporters, including polling agents, have been arrested by the police in Pulwama district. Mr. Parra hails from Pulwama.
“Sad to see police arresting and unlawfully detaining polling agents of the J&K Peoples Democratic Party in the central Kashmir parliament constituency,” Mr. Parra said.
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Mr. Parra named J&K Apni Party chairman Altaf Bukhari for the crackdown on his supporters. “He (Bukhari) prepares and sends the list of PDP leaders to Delhi and gets them arrested,” Mr. Parra alleged.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti accused the administration of imposing Section 144 “in an attempt to target our workers”.
“Imposition of Section 144 till election is unprecedented. Our active workers are being summoned by the police and detained. I urge the Lieutenant Governor to see that Kashmir is still paying a cost for the 1987 rigging. If they want to repeat 1987, why the elections? It seems they want suited-booted ikhwanis (counter-insurgents) and proxies in Kashmir,” Ms. Mufti.
NC president Farooq Abdullah also alleged that the police were “instilling fear among voters”.
“The L-G must stop the harassment of people. Using the police to harass our people will win the BJP any elections. The police are calling elders and youths and then telling them they are with Hurriyat and others. They are trying to create fear among you,” Dr. Abdullah said.
NC leader Tanvir Sadiq also alleged that NC candidate Aga Ruhullah Mehdi was denied “a boat rally and road show in Mir Behri”, an interior pocket of the Dal lake.
“While we’re barred from campaigning, a BJP-aligned proxy party enjoys the privilege of doing so in the same location. This sequence of events, from permission to withdrawal, is truly shameful,” Mr. Sadiq said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama, on Saturday said that restrictions imposed under Section 144 in the district have been “mandated under Election Commission of India’s specific SOPs for the last 72 and 48 hours for poll campaigning”.
“The restrictions apply to specific activities related to the campaign, being the silent period. Restrictions relate to only specified points in order and not general restrictions,” the official said.
The restrictions, according to the order, shall be effective from 6 p.m. on Saturday till polling day on May 13. According to the order, only door-to-door campaigning would be allowed but disallows the use of speakers, and large public rallies. It also restricts the involvement of party supporters from outside the constituency.
