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| All-party meet on voting rights to non-locals today: Will Azad join opposition camp? | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 9: The second all-party meeting on voting rights to non-locals will be held at Jammu on Saturday. All eyes are on the move of former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.
The biggest question is “will Azad join the opposition camp” on this issue which has snowballed into a big political controversy in J&K.
During his first meeting after quitting Congress Azad has demanded job and land rights for the locals. He also raised the demand for restoring statehood to J&K.
In an attempt to garner the support of more political and social parties against the inclusion of “non-locals” in Jammu and Kashmir’s electoral roll, the opposition parties are holding an all-party meeting on Saturday.
Senior CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami said the meeting will take place under the leadership Dr. Farooq Abdullah at his Jammu residence and is scheduled for 2 pm on September 10. “The All-Party Meeting is part of the 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, who is also PAGD’s convener and spokesperson, said.
The alliance had convened a similar meeting in Srinagar on August 22, which was attended by the Congress, Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal (Mann), besides all of its 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, the National Conference (NC) president and a former Chief Minister, had said after the meeting.
Abdullah, who chaired that meeting, had said they were united against the move to extend the voting right to “outsiders” as it would rob Jammu and Kashmir of its identity.
“The State’s identity is about to end. The Dogras, Kashmiris, Paharis or Gujjars or Sikhs, who reside here, will lose their identity. The Assembly will be in the hands of the outsiders. We all oppose it,” he had said. |
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