SRI NAGAR: The ruling National Conference(NC) in Jammu and Kashmir is worried about its prospects in the event of the Assembly elections taking place as per schedule later this year and therefore favours postponement of the polls.
The six-year term of the Assembly is nearing an end, and the elections to the 87-member House are scheduled for November-December.
After the worst-ever floods in the first week of September, a question mark hangs over the date of the elections. Most political parties, including the Congress, favour holding the elections on schedule. However, senior National Conference leaders, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, have been demanding that the polls be deferred, saying “the situation is not conducive for the polls”.
Omar has gone to the extent of saying that there will be zero percentage of voting if elections are held now as flood-affected people won’t come to vote in the winter.
According to government estimates, over three lakh structures had been damaged by the floods in the Valley and thousands of the people were rendered homeless when the floods happened in the state.