The team of Election Commission of India (ECI) led by deputy chief election commissioner Vinod Zutshi on Thursday met almost all mainstream political parties discussing the post flood situation and the conduct of elections in the state.Talking to KNS, Naeem Akhter, MLC and Peoples Democratic Party chief spokesman who along with Mohammad Dilawar Mir PDP general secretary met the visiting ECI team said that the PDP favoured conduct of elections on its due date.“We have conveyed our point to the ECI team very explicitly that the elections should be conducted on time. We have also proposed the ECI to constitute a joint team of officers from the central and the state government and handover the relief and rehabilitation process to it,” Akhter said, while adding that this team of officers will work without any political interference and the relief will reach to the deserving flood victims.Akhter also informed KNS that the PDP has proposed reduction in the time frame involved in the while election process. “This we said because we want that the new government that will have six years at its disposal will take over the rehabilitation process as soon as possible,” he added.
Akhter said that PDP informed the ECI team about the necessity of relief and rehabilitation process and advocated that a joint committee of officer should be constituted for the purpose so that it fulfills this assignment impartially at least for the two months during which the elections are held. “We said that the tardy relief operation has added to the miseries of flood hit people and it does not want people to continue to suffer by this kind of political and administrative inaction. We said that on moral grounds the present dispensation does not deserve to continue in the office even if it had some time left with it,” Akhter said while adding that a responsible government can facilitate a comprehensive rehabilitation of the flood affected sectors particularly the agriculture, horticulture and the tourism.
Meanwhile, top sources in Congress told KNS, that G A Mir senior Congress leader and minister for tourism represented Pradesh Congress Committee before the ECI team. “The atmosphere for assembly elections is conducive and the same should be held on its own time,” Mir has told the ECI team, according to a senior Congress leader. Pertinently, Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chief minister and opposition leader in Rajeya Sabha had recently in an interview with KNS expressed that the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir be conducted on its due date.A CPI (M) delegation also met the ECI team conveying that the relief and rehabilitation should continue alongwith the democratic process in the state. Sources in the CPI (M) said that its’ delegation advocated assembly elections in the state be conducted on its due time but not at the cost of relief and rehabilitation process and the same should be given an equal priority. Meanwhile, sources in the BJP said that the party has conveyed the ECI team that elections be held on time. (KNS)