The Hindu : National : NC team meets Governor, seeks judicial probe into `rigging'

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Sunday, Oct 24, 2004

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National

NC team meets Governor, seeks judicial probe into `rigging'

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, OCT. 23 . The National Conference (NC) has announced that it would boycott elections in Jammu and Kashmir, if the Election Commission failed to set up a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge to inquire into the `malpractices' in the recent by-elections. It has also accused the Government of harassing its leaders and workers.

This was conveyed to the Governor, S.K. Sinha, on Friday, by a 30-member delegation of the party's former ministers and sitting legislators, led by its patron and former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah.

The NC president, Omar Abdullah, and the Leader of the Opposition, Abdur Raheem Rather, also accompanied him.

Disturbed by the killing of senior NC leader, Safdar Ali Beg, on Thursday, the members of the delegation made the by-elections to Pahalgam and Batamaloo the main issue in the memorandum to the Governor. The Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and his party colleague, Tariq Hameed Qarra, had been declared elected from these constituencies.

The party sought the Election Commission's intervention as "the Government had violated the code of conduct and used the official machinery with full strength."

It alleged that the results were manipulated by the coalition government with the help of the police and civil administration.

`Bogus voters'

The memorandum gave details of the development works, advertised in the proscribed period and executed with the objective of influencing the voters. The Election Commission had `failed' to conduct free and fair elections in the State though these apprehensions had been conveyed to it in advance. "Bogus voters" had been used by the ruling party with the help of police and civil officers, it alleged.

Talking to reporters later, Dr. Abdullah said the Governor "assured us that our demand will be conveyed to the quarters concerned."

Security withdrawn

He said the delegation expressed concern over the treatment being meted out to the NC leaders in matters of security and accommodation.

"Security to a number of NC leaders has been withdrawn and we told the Governor that the PDP Government had facilitated the militants' task of eliminating Safdar Ali Beg by evicting the former Minister from his official accommodation at Srinagar."

He had no alternative but to shift to his ancestral town of Anantnag.

The NC patron said that his party had also decided to boycott all the functions where Mr. Sayeed would be present. "Our members won't face the Mufti who won elections by large-scale rigging," he said.

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