JK parties meet to discuss issue of 'inclusion of non-local voters'

Srinagar, Aug 22: An "all-party" meeting convened by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah to discuss the issue of "inclusion of non-local voters" in electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir got underway here on Monday.

However, the Sajad Lone led People's Conference and Altaf Bukhari led Apni Party stayed away from the meeting.

The BJP also convened a meeting of its leaders in Jammu on Monday to chalk out a counter-strategy against the meeting called by the National Conference

The meeting at Abdullah's residence in high security Gupkar area here began this morning and was attended apart from NC leaders, by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Congress' J-K unit president Vikar Rasool, CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami and Shiv Sena leaders.

Abdullah had called the meeting to discuss the issue of "inclusion of non-local voters" in the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir after remarks related to the addition of voters in the revised rolls by the UT's Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar raised hackles of the regional parties.

The government on Saturday last issued a clarification, saying the reports of a likely addition of over 25 lakh voters after the summary revision of electoral rolls is a "misrepresentation of facts by vested interests".

Dissatisfied with the clarification issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on issues related to revised electoral rolls, the National Conference and PDP said they will go ahead with the meeting.

They claimed the administration has not addressed their main concern on whether ''outsiders'' ordinarily residing in J-K will be allowed to enrol as voters.

Lone said the meeting seemed to be a point-scoring exercise and he would not want to be a part of it.

One lady (Mehbooba Mufti) says call an all party meeting and the other makes (phone) calls for it. Also tell me, how much can we pretend? We abuse each other politically 24 hours a day. I have hurled abuses at them yesterday, they have done it day before. How long can we pretend that everything is hunky dory, he told reporters.

Mehboobaji, desperate to retrieve her (lost) ground, issues diktat for calling all party meeting .... Maharaja Hari Singh's era has long gone by, he added.

Lone, however, said if anything concrete came out of the meeting, his party will support it wholeheartedly and expected reciprocal attitude from the participants in the meeting for his efforts to deal with the issue of non-local voters.

The mainstream political parties have alleged that the "inclusion of non-locals was a clear-cut ploy to disenfranchise the people of Jammu and Kashmir".