AICC president’s election
Karan Singh for early election in UT
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Oct 17: Around 95 percent overall polling was recorded in Jammu and Kashmir in the Congress president’s elections, the polling of which was held today, simultaneously, at both places in Srinagar and Jammu.
“Out of total 340, 321 votes were polled in J&K,” said Ranjit Ranjan (MP), Returning Officer for J&K.
It comes to around 95 percent, she said. 93 percent polling was recorded in the elections of Congress president here in Jammu.
Disclosing this here today at the close of poll, Assistant Pradesh Returning Officer (APRO) Dr Amee Yagnik along with another APRO Sukhwant Singh Brar said that 151 votes were polled în Jammu out of which 148 votes were polled from Jammu quota while two voters of Kashmir province were allowed to poll here. Amee Yagnik also polled her vote here being on elections duty.
Ten delegates of Jammu province were allowed to poll votes in Kashmir or elsewhere in the country as per norms. Hence 158 out of 170 delegates în Jammu province exercised their votes, thus recording 93 percent of total votes.
Ranjit Ranjan cast her vote in Srinagar where JKPCC president Vikar Rasool, former PCC president GA Mir and other top leaders of Kashmir also cast their votes.
In Jammu, several former ministers, former legislators and senior functionaries of PCC, district presidents, including working president Raman Bhalla, Mula Ram, Ravinder Sharma, Yogesh Sawhney, Jahangir Mir, Shabir Khan, Manmohan Singh, Th Balbir Singh, T S Bajwa, Ved Mahajan, Shah Mohd Chaudhary, G L Chalotra, Ashok Dogra, K C Bhagat, Dina Nath Bhagat, Kanta Bhan and others cast their votes.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Dr Karan Singh today demanded early Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the AICC presidential voting at the party’s Srinagar headquarters, Singh said that democracy cannot be ensured without the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, so all parties here have been demanding immediate conduct of the polls.
He said that things have been started like the delimitation exercise was completed while other formalities are also being done.
“We have been hearing that the elections will be conducted in March next year, but there is no official confirmation yet. Congress and other parties have been demanding early polls and they should be held at an earliest,” he added.
About the inclusion of non-local voters in J&K, he said that there is confusion over it and the things are not clear, so he cannot comment anything on the issue.
About the development in J&K, he said the Government has been making claims about the developmental progress in the Union Territory, but on ground it may take some time to see the impact. “However, Dal lake for the first time is cleaned. I am happy to see Dal Lake clean as I have personally witnessed this development,” he added.
Earlier, several Congress delegates, including JKPCC president Vikar Rasool, Karan Singh, and former JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmed Mir, cast their votes in Srinagar today. The delegates lined up to vote at the Congress headquarters since morning. They were jubilant as they were voting for the first time for electing the president of the party.
Speaking on the occasion, Vikar said two polling stations have been set up, one each in Srinagar and Jammu, where delegates will cast their votes.
He said the party’s internal election was the beauty of democracy. “Such a process has not been seen in any party till date,” he added.
“Earlier, in the elections, the president was elected directly by passing a resolution and this time as well, a proposal was passed to elect party leader Rahul Gandhi as the president, but he refused to take the top post,” the Congress president said.
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