Farooq Abdullah voices apprehensions over fairness of Anantnag bypolls

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah today voiced apprehensions over fairness of the upcoming by polls in Anantnag Assembly constituency from where Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is contesting and questioned its timing as it coincides with the holy month of Ramadan.
The former Chief Minister, who is often accused of rigging the Assembly elections of 1987 which is believed to have given birth to militancy, insisted that he had done no such thing.
Referring to the upcoming June 19 Assembly by polls, he said, “I have no hopes that they will conduct an honest election in Anantnag because when they postponed the elections, they said the situation was not good and they cannot take place. Tell me, is the situation any better today?”
He also questioned the timing of the bypolls.
“(The elections are being held) when there is the month of Ramadan, when people here fast. And on the polling day is the anniversary of a religious leader. Is this right? Ask this to those who are the owners of the Election Commission. Do they do justice with the people of J&K,” he said.
The by polls have been necessitated due to the demise of the then Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed, who was father of Mehbooba Mufti.
The NC president, whose party has fielded industrialist-politician Iftikhar Misger to take on Mehbooba, said he hopes that the people of Anantnag would realize that the PDP leader has “joined those forces who want destruction of the state.”
He said NC is going to fight election for this Assembly seat “determinedly”.
Abdullah said the ruling PDP’s charge that NC had rigged the 1987 elections was wrong. The NC-Congress alliance had won those elections and the government was headed by him.
“They will say this. Now, we have to see what they did in the 25 years before me. Were those fair elections in which they won? They say five have been rigged, but they rigged 40 here,” he said.
Abdullah said if he wanted to rig the polls in 1987, then his own ministers would have won. “My minister lost the election, no one saw that. If Farooq Abdullah wanted to rig the polls, then he would have made those ministers win them,” he said.