Outsiders In J&K’s Electoral Rolls: Gupkar alliance to meet next month in Jammu
People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) chairman, Farooq Abdullah, will hold an all-party meet at his Jammu residence on September 10 over the proposed inclusion of around 2.5 million non-local voters in the electoral rolls of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the alliance’s spokesperson said on Monday.
“On the lines of the Srinagar meet, another all-party meeting over the addition of around 2.5 million non-local voters in the voters list shall be held o September 10 at Dr Faroorq Abdullah’s Bhatindi residence in Jammu,” PAGD spokesperson and CPI (M) leader MY Tarigami told reporters.
“In the first meeting, we had decided that we will hold a broader meeting in Jammu and finally, we have taken a decision to hold it on September 10,” he said.
“The all party meeting in Jammu is part of ongoing consultations to come out with a joint strategy to stand united against any move to include outsiders in the electoral rolls in a bid to influence election results,” Tarigami said.
The previous meeting was held in Srinagar on August 22, which was attended by the Congress, Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal (Mann), besides all PAGD constituents.
However, the Sajjad Lone-led People’s Conference and Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party had stayed away.
“Any decision to include non-locals in electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir is unacceptable and will be contested by all means, including in court,” Abdullah had said at the Srinagar meeting.
The proposed addition of 2.5 million names to the electoral rolls in J&K had stirred up a political row, with local parties saying it is a ploy to alter the region’s demographics and the administration dismissing the allegations that “outsiders” will influence electoral outcomes.
On August 17, the chief electoral officer of J&K, Hirdesh Kumar Singh, had told reporters that the ongoing special summary revision of electoral rolls — a process seen by analysts as a preparatory move for the region’s first assembly election in eight years — is likely to add around 2.5 million voters.
The jump, he explained, was because the exercise was being held after three years, a period in which the region’s special status was scrapped. This allowed the inclusion of “ordinary residents” — and not just permanent residents — in the electoral rolls.
“After the abrogation of Article 370, many people who weren’t voters in the assembly can now be named on the voters’ list to cast their vote… and no person needs to be a permanent resident of the state/UT,” Singh had said.
