‘Tomorrow, we could be left out of…’: Farooq Abdullah on J&K electoral roll row

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said all opposition parties are against the new law (inclusion of non-locals as voters in Jammu and Kashmir) and they are thinking of moving the court on the matter.

“We will invite the leaders of all national parties to Jammu & Kashmir in September and keep our issues before them,” Abdullah told reporters during an all-party meeting at his residence.

Abdullah also said he had requested L-G Manoj Sinha to call an all-party meeting to discuss the developments. However, it was not considered.

“We do not accept this. We have differences but all parties present here have come together realizing that tomorrow we could be left out of our assembly,” Abdullah added.

The meeting was convened following remarks by the Union Territory’s chief Electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar on the addition of voters in the revised electoral rolls after which the Jammu and Kashmir’s Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) issued a clarification stating that there is no change in the special provisions for the enrolment of Kashmiri migrants.

“There is no change in the rules regarding the buying of property and jobs in the Jammu and Kashmir’s government and no link to the representation of voters or otherwise,” it added.