The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) said on Saturday that a 14-member committee has been formed to prevent any attempt of “manipulation and inclusion” from non-locals in the revised electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir.
Who is part of the panel?
The panel consists of members of the PAGD, an amalgam of five political parties, namely NC, PDP, CPI(M), CPI and the Awami National Conference (ANC) that is campaigning for the restoration of the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. It also includes members from Congress, Shiv Sena, Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) and Dogra Sadar Sabha (DSS).
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PAGD spokesperson MY Tarigami said National Conference (NC) MP Justice (retd) said Hasnain Masoodi will be the panel’s convenor.
Apart from Masoodi, other committee members include:
• Working president of Jammu and Kashmir Congress Raman Bala
• Former MP Sheikh Abdul Rehman
• NC provincial president (Jammu) Rattan Lal Gupta
• People's Democratic Party (PDP) leaders Mehboob Beg and A S Reen
• Former minister and DSSP president Chowdhary Lal Singh
• Former minister and DSS president Gulchain Singh Charak
• Shiv Sena’s Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Manish Sawhney
• CPI(M) leader Hari Singh, CPI leader G M Mizrab
• ANC president Muzaffar Ahmad Shah
• International Democratic Party president I D Khujuria and Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement leader M Hussain.
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Tarigami said the committee was formed a month after much deliberations and consultations at a meeting of senior leaders from various political parties under Abdullah’s chairmanship in Jammu on September 10, to set up a panel to chalk out the future strategy to protect the revised electoral rolls.
Hardening its stand on the issue of inclusion of non-locals as voters in the Union Territory despite clarification from the administration, the PAGD held two meetings, one in Srinagar on August 22 and another in Jammu on September 10.
When did the issue arise?
The then chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar had said in August that Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of the electoral rolls for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.
Following an outcry, the administration clarified that this revision of electoral rolls will cover:
• Existing residents of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The increase in numbers will be of the voters who have attained the age of 18 years as of October 1, 2022, or earlier.
"All of us are together to stop the onslaught that is taking place in Jammu and Kashmir (since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019). This (giving voting rights to people from outside) is the biggest among all and it is not acceptable to us," Abdullah had told reporters in Jammu after the all-party meet.
Why is the panel dissatisfied with the clarification from the administration?
Abdullah had explained, “Which institution is running in a right way? The then governor Satya Pal Malik had told us nothing will happen to Article 370 prior to the August 5, 2019 development. The LG is sitting here.... The prime minister chaired an all-party meeting (in June last year) and a decision was taken that Dilli ki doori (the distance from Delhi) as well as dil ki doori (the distance from the heart) will be bridged and prisoners will be released. Tell me about anyone who has been released. And they are implementing new laws every day. Therefore, all of us here feel that rights are under attack and we are here to counter that attack,” Abdullah had said.
