SRINAGAR, 28 September — The main opposition Congress party yesterday threatened to pull out of the remaining two phases of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections after accusing the ruling National Conference of misuse of power and intimidation.
The third and fourth round of polling are scheduled for Oct. 1 and Oct. 8.
Senior Congress leaders Ambika Soni, Capt. Amrider Singh and Pervez Hashmi have publicly alleged large-scale rigging by the National Conference. Hashmi charged that the NC is “misusing the official machinery, security forces and state election officials to rig the election in its favor.” He alleged that NC activists were trying to tamper with the electronic voting machines. They have access to the EVMs and the security forces guarding the machines are colluding with the people in power, Hashmi charged. He appealed to the Election Commission to ensure safety of the voting machines.
He said the large voter turnout has made NC nervous, as they know that people are coming to vote against their regime. Hashmi said that workers of opposition parties are now being threatened by NC cadre not to vote.
The People’s Democratic party of former union minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had also threatened to pull out of the elections, accusing the state police chief A.K. Suri of being a National Conference activist. PDP Vice President Muzaffar Hussein Beig told reporters here that there was a perceptible change in the behavior of the police and paramilitary forces.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, revised the percentage of polling in the second phase which was held on Sept. 24, from 42 percent to 41 percent.
In poll-related violence, a National Conference candidate escaped an assassination attempt while a Jaish-e-Mohammed commander was among 11 killed and many injured in the state.
NC candidate from Bijbehara, Abdul Ghani Shah Veeri, escaped unhurt an attempt on his life yesterday afternoon when militants hurled grenades and opened fire on a NC rally at Kanalwan in Bijbehara constituency which will go to polls on Oct.1.
In another incident, a fierce encounter took place between Kashmiri militants and troops in which three militants including an area commander of Jaish, Shaukat War, was killed. Militants also targeted security forces in Pulwama. They threw a bomb at the security force, wounding 22 people including four troops.
