Even as the Deputy Commissioner Jammu and District Election Officer Avny Lavasa has withdrawn her order authorizing tehsildars in the district to issue a certificate of residence, former Chief Minister and National Conference chief Dr Farooq Abdullah has called a meeting of the leaders of People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), on Saturday at his residence in Srinagar.
Reports said that all constituents of the PAGD have given their consent to attend the meeting on Saturday to discuss the move of enrolling non-locals in the revised electoral rolls for the assembly elections.
As reported earlier, the process for revision of electoral rolls is going on in Jammu and Kashmir for the next Assembly polls in the Union Territory. The Election Commission has already announced that the final draft of the electoral rolls will be published on the 25th of November.
On August 9, the Election Commission revised the schedule of special summary revision in Jammu and Kashmir with November 25 as the final date for publication of electoral rolls while draft rolls were published on September 15.
The youth who attained the age of 18 years on October 1, 2022, or earlier are eligible to become voters in Jammu and Kashmir.
DC Jammu withdraws voter registration order after opposition
Following opposition from non-BJP political parties across Jammu and Kashmir, the Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, Jammu, Avny Lavasa, has withdrawn her order authorizing tehsildars in the district to issue a certificate of residence.
As per earlier order, the certificates were to be issued based on ground verification of people, who have been living in their respective areas for over a year but do not possess any document prescribed by the Election Commission of India to support it, according to the order issued Tuesday.
Though no official reason has been given for the order's withdrawal late on Wednesday, it seems to have been done following widespread opposition from political parties barring the BJP.
First meeting of the opposition's panel on Monday
The first meeting of the newly formed 14-member opposition panel will be held on Monday at Jammu under the chairmanship of senior National Conference leader and MP from Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi to discuss the granting of voter rights to outsiders.
Opposition parties on October 9 constituted a 14-member-panel to chalk out the future course of action against the move to include "non-locals" in the revised electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir.
