‘The last time this happened…’: Omar Abdullah on J&K assembly missing Prez poll

Defence minister Rajnath Singh last week said there was a strong possibility that the election process in Jammu and Kashmir will be initiated by the end of this year

The last time that Jammu and Kashmir legislators did not vote in the presidential elections was during the dark days of the early 1990s, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said in a tweet on Friday.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister has been calling for early elections in the union territory (ANI)

“For only the 2nd time since 1947 J&K will have no assembly members to vote in the Presidential Election. The last time this happened was during the dark days of the early 90s, 1992 to be precise,” the National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said.

Jammu and Kashmir assembly was dissolved in 1992 and the erstwhile state could not be part of the 10th presidential polls that elected Shankar Dayal Sharma as President. Jammu and Kashmir was under central rule from 1990 to 1996 when terrorism was at its peak.

Abdullah and other political parties have been calling for early elections in Jammu and Kashmir which is being centrally administered since 2018 when the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP government collapsed after its alliance partner BJP pulled out.

In August 2019, the Centre revoked the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two union territories, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Kashmiri leaders have long demanded that elections be held but this could not happen because some assembly and parliamentary constituencies needed to be re-adjusted due to the bifurcation. The delimitation commission gave its report last month, in which 7 new seats were allocated to J&K; six to Jammu and one to Kashmir.

Omar Abdullah reiterated the call for early elections in Jammu and Kashmir. “How many people can one LG and his three advisors listen to? “ he told reporters. The former chief minister also hit out at critics of the regional front, People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD): “If they (critics of PAGD) have clout with Delhi, let them get the elections conducted. Whatever people decide, we will accept it.”

Unlike in 1992 when the erstwhile state didn’t even have representatives in parliament, this time five MPs - three from National Conference and two from the BJP - can vote in the presidential elections in which NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu is pitted against the opposition’s Yashwant Sinha.

The opposition did initially discuss National Conference president Farooq Abdullah as a potential candidate but the 84-year-old leader, Jammu and Kashmir’s seniormost politician, declined. “I believe that Jammu and Kashmir is passing through a critical juncture and my efforts are required to help navigate these uncertain times,” Farooq Abdullah said last week.