J&K: Farooq Abdullah holds all-party meet over registration of new voters

New Delhi: Leaders of various political parties have arrived at the residence of National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar, for an all-party meeting regarding the registration of new voters in Jammu and Kashmir.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is also present in the meeting.

Jammu and Kashmir | An all-party meeting called by National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah underway at his residence in Srinagar to discuss about 'Registration of New Voters in J&K'

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also present. pic.twitter.com/H8cBU8iUNi

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2022

Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar had last week announced that non-locals who are ordinarily residing in Jammu and Kashmir for different purposes can register their names in the voters' list and exercise their franchise in the next Assembly elections in the state.

"The requirement of domicile is not necessary for outsiders to get enlisted as voters. The armed forces personnel from other states who are posted at peace stations in J&K can also get their names added in the voter list," he said.

Kumar said around 25 lakh new voters are expected to be enrolled in the Union Territory as the special summary revision of electoral rolls is being held for the first time after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Describing the ongoing exercise as a challenging task, he said the special summary revision of electoral rolls will be completed by 25 November.

"The massive exercise to complete the process in time is going on to ensure that all the eligible voters including those who have attained the age of 18 years on 1 October, 2022 or earlier are enrolled to provide an error-free final list," ABP report quoted Kumar as saying.

The Voter ID will be linked to AADHAR and new cards will be issued with many more security features, however, furnishing of Aadhaar number is purely voluntary, the report added.

Reacting to the development, Former chief ministers Omar Abdullah accused the BJP of seeking backdoor entry into J&K by bringing in non-local voters. "Is the BJP so insecure about support from genuine voters of J&K that it needs to import temporary voters to win seats? None of these things will help the BJP when the people of J&K are given a chance to exercise their franchise," he tweeted.

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