Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra responding to a notice from the Election Commission of India (ECI), clarified on Friday that the reference to a “referendum” was to highlight the “importance of the election and nothing else”. Meanwhile, the administration has allowed poll rallies by National Conference (NC) candidate Omar Abdullah in the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, a day after he filed a complaint.
“The reference to the aspect that the ‘ensuing election is no less than a referendum’, only points towards the importance the present election holds and nothing else. Any other inference drawn by any person is not the intendment of the undersigned,” Mr. Parra said in the reply.
The ECI, in its notice on Thursday, allowed two days’ time to clear speeches made during campaigning in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.
Legitimate issues
Mr. Parra, however, defended the use of phrases like “people’s silence” and “people of Kashmir are not happy with New Delhi.”
“These are purely electoral issues that a contesting candidate seeking the mandate of the people, is lawfully entitled to raise and the same, by no stretch of imagination, can be construed to be a violation of the MCC,” the reply said.
Regarding “youth are languishing in jail and children are caught in drug addiction,” the reply said, “It represents ‘the problem of Kashmir’ and the same is yet again a pressing electoral issue that the undersigned is within his rights to agitate,” it added.
Mr. Parra said he wants the issues raised “to be addressed by the Parliament of India.” “The potential of ‘aggravating the differences among communities’ and ‘cause discontentment’ in society is, in the light of the present reply, outrightly denied. It is reiterated that the inference and suggestion mentioned in the notice under reply are based on unwarranted conjectures and surmises,” Mr. Parra said.
Backing Mr. Parra, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said, “The main reason for fielding Parra from the Srinagar constituency is that there is no person other than him who can relate to the pain of a common Kashmiri and represent them in the Parliament. He himself comes from a humble background, and there is no other person more able than him to represent the people, their real aspirations, and their needs in Parliament. He represents those youth who are being tortured, jailed, hounded, and ridiculed.”
On the ECI notice, Ms. Mufti said, “It is an irony that BJP leaders are spewing venom in poll rallies, instigating riots, pitting Hindus against Muslims and the ECI is silent. But when a candidate speaks of the agonies of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he is served with a notice. This gives you an idea about what is going wrong in this country and where,” Ms. Mufti said.
NC rallies permitted
Meanwhile, the administration has allowed NC candidate Omar Abdullah to hold rallies as proposed earlier, a day after he wrote to the ECI about an attempt to postpone poll rallies in Sopore in the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency.
The District Election Officer, Baramulla, said the rescheduling of political events on May 9, 2024, was necessitated by credible security concerns, as advised by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Sopore.
“Following a fresh assessment of the ground situation, the SSP Sopore provided updated recommendations, allowing political activities from May 10, 2024, onwards, subject to adherence to Model Code of Conduct (MCC) guidelines. It’s important to note that all permissions sought by Javed Ahmad Dar (of the NC) were subsequently granted on May 9, 2024, based on the revised recommendations received from the SSP Sopore and ECI guidelines,” the DEO said.
