 Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 7: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today began with a compliment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ended with a hard-hitting challenge to the Centre over the Election Commission controversy and the proposed revision of J&K's electoral rolls.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar on Wednesday, Omar congratulated Modi on completing 25 years at the head of a government.
Modi's run began when he became Gujarat Chief Minister in 2001 and continued after he took over as Prime Minister in 2014. The Union Cabinet marked the milestone with a resolution on October 7.
"You must have done something right for people to keep voting for you repeatedly," Omar said, calling it no small feat to keep winning elections for a quarter-century, first in the state and then at the Centre. He extended greetings on his own behalf and on behalf of his colleagues.
The goodwill did not carry over to the controversy around Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Omar pointed to an Indian Express investigation reporting that the other two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had recorded objections to decisions on 14 occasions over ten months.
If the report was false “You must have done something right for people to keep voting for you repeatedly,”
It’s no small feat to keep winning elections for a quarter-century, first in the state and then at the Centre.
I extend my greetings to PM Modi for completing 25 years in the office.
The Supreme Court this week issued notices to the Election Commission and Kumar on petitions alleging unilateral decisions and changes linked to Form 6, the form for registering new voters. The court has not ordered Kumar's removal and will examine the issues once responses are filed.
Omar said the INDIA bloc's agitation over the Election Commission would go on. A month-long calendar of protests was announced after the alliance's recent meeting in Delhi, he said. "We are taking that forward."
Omar then turned to the proposed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that it could be used to tamper with the electoral process. He invoked the earlier delimitation exercise. "We have not forgotten delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir. Delimitation aimed to benefit BJP. The same will happen with SIR," he said.
He hoped the Supreme Court's proceedings, particularly those on Form 6, would make it harder for genuine voters to be struck off the rolls. | 