The Election Commission (EC) has cancelled the Anantnag Lok Sabha by-election, citing law-and-order problem in Jammu and Kashmir. The bypoll, which was supposed to be held on April 12 initially, had been postponed to May 25 in view of the unrest in the Valley. The recommendation to do so had come from the state government.
Now, it seems that that by-election will not be held at all, and the reason once again is the situation in the state. There has been an uptick in terrorist activities in J&K, as well as a rise in incidences of stone-pelting in recent times. These could well have contributed to the EC taking the decision to cancel the by-election.
What seems to have been the clincher for this decision is that the EC reportedly demanded 70,000 security personnel to conduct the bypoll. However, the Union Home Ministry turned it down, saying that the EC will have to make do with 30,000 personnel.
The by-election to the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency became necessary after People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti quit the Lok Sabha to become chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. The EC had initially chosen April 9 for the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election and April 12 for the Anantnag by-election.
However, violence in the run-up to and during the Srinagar bypoll led to the EC seeking a report from the state government on whether the situation was conducive enough to conduct the Anantnag bypoll, and the PDP-BJP coalition government replied in the negative. That was when the EC shifted the Anantnag bypoll to May 25.
Earlier, when the EC had postponed the election, Jammua and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir — the Congress candidate from the seat — had threatened to pull out of all elections.
He had told IBTimes India: "It was on the assurance of the PDP government that the EC had decided to conduct elections in J&K. The government had said everything was OK in the state. Now, with all indications pointing to their defeat in Srinagar, they have made the EC postpone the by-election. In response, we have sent a memorandum to the EC, through the local returning officer, telling them that I will pull out of the election if governor's rule is not implemented in the state."
