M A I N   N E W S

Assembly poll by mid-Oct: Farooq
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 18
While Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh concluded his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said here today that the electoral process in the state would be completed by mid-October.

“I want everybody to take part in the elections”, Dr Abdullah said in reply to questions of mediapersons after the investiture ceremony at Raj Bhavan here.

Without directly asking separatist Hurriyat Conference leaders to participate in the Assembly elections, the Chief Minister made it clear that there were no restrictions on anyone to participate in the elections “in a free nation”.

The Chief Minister denied that his government had planned any crackdown on Hurriyat Conference leaders. Referring to the arrest of senior APHC leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, he said: “Geelani is facing what he has done himself”.

He also pointed out that although the ruling National Conference was an ally of the BJP-led NDA alliance at the Centre, it was the BJP’s opponent in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Referring to the choice for the chief ministerial post following the election of the new NC president, Dr Abdullah said the new incumbent would take the final decision  in consultation with his party colleagues. His son and the Union minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Omar Abdullah is poised to take over as the new party president here on June 23. Asked whether Mr Omar Abdullah would continue to hold the post of minister at the Centre, Dr Farooq Abdullah said: “I would like him to spend time here”.