STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: The Election Commission on Tuesday postponed polls to the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat to May 25, citing logistical issues due to adverse weather conditions.
There are 20 candidates in the race including former chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and noted religious leader Mian Altaf. The election was earlier scheduled to be held on May 7.
Except for the poll date, there are no changes in any part of the schedule, officials said.
In an official communication, the EC said that various representations were received from different political parties of Jammu and Kashmir for shifting the date of election to the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.
These parties had cited various logistic, communication and natural barriers of connectivity turning out as a hindrance in campaigning which in turn amounted to a lack of fair opportunities for the contesting candidates in the parliamentary constituency. “The Commission, after considering a report from UT administration as well as analysing the ground situation prevailing in the said constituency, has decided under Section 56 of Representation of People Act, 1951, to revise the date of poll” from May 7 to May 25, it said.
The Election Commission officials said the Commission has only revised the poll date for the Lok Sabha seat and all statutory processes including nomination, scrutiny and withdrawal are already over with 20 contesting candidates.
The leaders, who had petitioned the EC, included Jammu and Kashmir BJP unit chief Ravinder Raina, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari, People’s Conference leader Imran Ansari and others.
The Election Commission had asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to immediately submit a detailed report on road conditions, weather and accessibility to the region which covers parts of South Kashmir and areas in Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region.
Former chief ministers of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah (National Conference) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) had urged the Election Commission last week not to postpone polls.
The former chief ministers made the appeal after the EC sought a report from Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and the Chief Electoral Officer on representations submitted by some parties and three candidates seeking rescheduling of elections in the constituency due to adverse weather conditions.
Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary seat, which was reshaped on the recommendations of the delimitation commission in 2022, covers 18 assembly segments across three districts of Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam in south Kashmir and two border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, barring one assembly constituency, in Jammu region.
The two regions on either side of Pir Panjal are connected through the Mughal Road which usually remains closed during winter months owing to heavy snowfall, especially in the Peer Ki Gali and adjoining areas.
The road was recently cleared for one-way traffic after a hectic snow clearance operation but fresh snowfall forced closure of the traffic on the road on April 27.
There are 18,30,294 eligible voters including 9,30,379 males and 8,99,888 females in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency and they will decide the fate of the contestants.
Other prominent candidates in the fray include DPAP’s Mohammad Saleem Parray and Apni Party’s Zafar Iqbal Manhas.
BJP has not fielded any candidate and is contemplating to extend support to one of the contestants not linked to the Congress, NC and PDP.
The Lok Sabha seat will have 2,338 polling stations including 2113 in rural areas and 225 in urban.
