The Hindu : Migrant Pandits play a key role

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2002

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Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

Migrant Pandits play a key role

By Our Staff Reporter

BSF personnel patrolling the Dal Lake area on the eve of the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

Muthi (Jammu) Sept. 23. Along with the 13 Assembly segments of Jammu district which go to the polls in the second phase, Kashmir Pandits living in various migrant camps on the outskirts of Jammu will be in focus. Eleven polling stations have been set up for the community, with eight in Jammu district, one in Udhampur district and two in New Delhi.

Pandits constitute a good chunk of voters in four Assembly segments of Kashmir — Habakadal, Amirakadal, Batmaloo and Hazratbal. Habakadal has 34 per cent migrant voters and the neighbouring Amirakadal 15 per cent.

The Pandit votebank played a crucial role in ensuring the victory of several National Conference candidates in the past. As the overall polling percentage in the 1996 elections in Srinagar was dismal, the migrant votes became significant. For instance, the former Law Minister of the National Conference Government, the late P.L. Handoo, owed his victory to the more than 3,000 migrant votes cast in his favour. But in the 1996 elections, it was alleged that the winning candidates had adopted illegal means for getting fake migrant votes.

Regional autonomy

The Communist Party of India favoured the proposal of giving political, economic and administrative autonomy to all the three regions of the State. In his election rally last evening, the party general secretary, A.B. Bardhan, said, "The time has come when it is imperative to end a feeling of discrimination among the three regions of the State and stop the regional disparities and imbalances".

Favouring autonomy to all the three regions, he said, "This proposal is the only solution in which the people of the State can progress and a relationship of harmony can be built with each other." According to him, the grant of regional autonomy would check the "dangerous move" of trifurcation of the State being supported by the RSS.

Mr. Bardhan said, "There is no question of returning to the pre-1953 status and there is a need to continue the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor-General as these are essentials checks in any federal polity".

Launching an attack on the National Conference, the CPI veteran alleged the non-performance by the party in the last six years. The party "wasted an opportunity" given by the people of the State as it had failed to "minimise the suffering". Expressing concern over the rising unemployment in the State, he said, "The State Government has misused Central funds. The people need to know where crores of rupees of Central aid for development have been spent".

The PCC president, Ghulam Nabi Azad, today hoped that the second phase of elections would be conducted in a free and fair manner. Asked whether he feels that the elections in the first phase were free and fair, he said, "I have many things to say. I won't divulge now but I will stick to the point saying the elections in the first phase were participatory and there is room for improvement in the second phase".

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Migrant Pandits play a key role