 Early Times Report
Jammu, May 29: Five days after staging a protest against the alleged detention of her party workers and polling agents on the eve of elections for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, an FIR has been registered against Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The FIR, filed in response to the May 25 protest, accuses Mufti of blocking the main road in Bijbehara, Anantnag, a move deemed a “gross violation” of the MCC and Section 144. According to the FIR, the protest, led by Mufti and involving a significant number of PDP workers, disrupted the area for over an hour.
“The Assistant Returning Officer, 45, Srigufwara Bijbehra, complained against Madam Mehbooba Mufti for violating the Model Code of Conduct,” the FIR states. “On 25.05.2024, a large group of PDP workers led by Madam Mehbooba Mufti assembled in Bijbehara town, raising slogans for the release of PDP workers. This assembly and road blockage amounted to a gross violation of the MCC and Section 144 CrPC, as gatherings of four or more persons are restricted until June 4.”
Reacting to the FIR, Mehbooba Mufti expressed her frustration, claiming that the PDP is being penalized for speaking the truth. “Amusing to find an FIR filed against me for apparently flouting the MCC. This is the price PDP has paid FIR has been registered against Mehbooba Mufti for violating the MCC by blocking the main road at Bijbehara, Anantnag.
According to the FIR, the protest, led by Mufti and involving a significant number of PDP workers, disrupted the area for over an hour.
Amusing to find an FIR filed against me for apparently flouting the MCC.
This is the price PDP has paid for speaking truth to power.
She criticized the government and local administration, accusing them of detaining hundreds of PDP polling agents and workers in the lead-up to voting, and conducting Cordon and Search Operations in PDP strongholds to intimidate voters.
Iltija Mufti, Mehbooba’s daughter, supported her mother’s claims, highlighting the arrests of PDP workers and polling agents in South Kashmir just before voting. “A deliberate tacit boycott is then ensured in traditional PDP strongholds across Anantnag by launching search operations through the night. This ensures people are terrorized enough not to cast their votes overwhelmingly,” Iltija Mufti said. She asserted that the FIR against Mehbooba Mufti was an attempt by the Union Government to suppress voter turnout in South Kashmir and prevent her mother from being elected to Parliament.
On May 25, during the polling for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, Mehbooba Mufti staged a protest demanding the release of detained party workers and polling agents. She accused the police of conducting raids on the eve of the polling to intimidate her supporters and claimed that PDP polling agents were detained without cause.
However, police refuted these allegations, stating that only a few detentions were made, targeting individuals with “tainted pasts.” |
