STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah has convened an all-party meeting here on August 22 to formulate a common position on the issue of inclusion of outside voters in Jammu and Kashmir electoral rolls.
The meeting, scheduled to be held at 11 am on Monday at Abdullah’s residence in Gupkar area of the city here, will discuss the future course of action with regard to the Election Commission allowing outsiders to register as voters in the Union Territory.
“With regard to CEO’s announcement stating that non-locals will be added as voters in J&K, Dr Farooq Abdullah has convened an APM (all-party meeting) on August 22 (Monday) at his residence,” Jammu and Kashmir NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said.
Dar said Abdullah has spoken to the mainstream political parties in the Union Territory and invited them to join the meeting.
“The party president spoke to all mainstream parties, except the BJP,” the spokesman added. “Dr Farooq Abdullah has invited leaders of all political parties for a meeting to discuss the recent announcement by the J&K govt regarding inclusion of non-locals in the voter lists. He personally spoke to the leaders & requested them to attend the meet at 11 AM on Mon, 22nd Aug,” the NC said in a tweet. Meanwhile, the party in a statement said Abdullah has invited leaders of all major political parties, except the BJP, for the meeting at his Srinagar residence. The statement said the NC president has personally spoken to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, J-K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Waqar Rasool, JKPCC working president Raman Bhalla, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, Apni Party president Syed Altaf Bukhari, Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Ghani Lone and leaders of the Aam Admi Party here.
Abdullah requested the leaders to attend the meeting to formulate a common position on the issue of the inclusion of non-local voters, the statement said.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Hirdesh Kumar said the Union Territory is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370.