NC skips election observers’ meet; party block chief shot at in Valley

Srinagar/Anantnag, March 14

A block president of National Conference was shot at and injured by unidentified gunmen in Bijbehara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Thursday, on a day the NC chose not to send a delegation to meet  special observers of the Election Commission of India, who arrived on a three-day visit to assess if the ground situation was conducive to holding Assembly polls along with those for the Lok Sabha.

The injured 60-year-old Muhammad Ismail Wani of Dupathyar village was shifted to a Srinagar hospital. “He has been shot in the abdomen,” a health official said. Police sources said Wani was targeted while he was in his apple orchard. 

The three-member EC panel —  former IAS officers Noor Mohammad and Vinod Zutshi and former DG  of CRPF AS Gill — also held discussions with officials of the civil administration. They are likely to undertake a similar exercise in Jammu.

Among the delegations that met the EC team were those from the Congress, BJP, PDP, JD(U), BSP and the Peoples Conference. Former legislator Er Rasheed  (AIP) met the observers too.

“We had nothing to add…..Our party had already made its viewpoint clear, while reiterating the demand for simultaneous elections,” NC leaders said.

Former CM Mehbooba Mufti too sought simultaneous polls in view of the “difficulties being faced by people, the continued arrests and harassment”. The Congress said the decision to put the Assembly elections on hold was wrong. — TNS