Omar Abdullah is contesting from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat (File)
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir):
National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah termed the decision of the Election Commission of India to defer the polls for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency as a “conspiracy”.
He also alleged that attempts are being made to silence and defeat the National Conference.
“The people who asked for the deferment of the polls for Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency will not get anything. When the election results are out, INDIA bloc candidate Mian Altaf Sahib will emerge victorious. People are upset over the ECI’s announcement to defer the polls. They know it (postponement of polls) is a conspiracy with them. The voters will turn this conspiracy into a failure,” he told news agency ANI.
Omar Abdullah is contesting from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.
Replying to a query, he said,” Today, attempts are being made to defeat and silence us. Today in Delhi (the government at the Centre), all agencies–the BJP, RSS–have united to help some political parties here…And the National Conference is their target.”
The Election Commission of India on Tuesday deferred the polls for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency scheduled for May 7 and fixed May 25 as a new date.
Mian Altaf is a National Conference leader who has already filed his nomination from the newly created Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency.
In 2019, polling for the Lok Sabha was held for six seats in Jammu and Kashmir. However, following the abrogation of Article 370, which resulted in the split of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, there is no longer a separate Lok Sabha constituency for Ladakh.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won three seats, while the National Conference won the remaining three. The counting of votes and results will be declared on June 4.
The PDP and NC, despite being allies in the opposition alliance INDIA bloc, have decided to go solo in the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
The general elections are being held in seven phases in a six-week marathon running from April 19 to June 1.
The first phase of polling was held on April 19 and the second phase on April 26.
The next round of voting will be held on May 7.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
