NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Binoo Joshi
The leader of the secessionist Democratic Freedom Party Shabir Ahmed Shah on Friday said elections under the supervision of neutral observers is the only way to determine the 'true representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir'.
He also said that he wanted the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference to take part in the elections.
Meanwhile, the mainstream Peoples Democratic Party of the former Union minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed also demanded fresh polls.
On Wednesday, Mehbooba Mufti, PDA vice president and Sayeed's daughter, demanded elections at a public meeting in Udhampur town in Jammu region.
While the din for fresh elections has grown louder, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, who had promised to hold assembly elections in the state much ahead of the October 2002 deadline, has preferred to keep silent.
Observers said that the opposition groups are demanding elections as they fear that the collapse of the Agra summit has inadvertently strengthened the position of the ruling National Conference.
National Conference believes in the finality of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India.
As far as the people are concerned, said observers, they are sick of violence and have once again begun to see the National Conference government as a lesser evil, their 'very poor performance' notwithstanding.
"If eyes are riveted to the National Conference, it is because of New Delhi's renewed confidence in Abdullah," Gulzar Ahmad, a journalist, said.
"And the people have come to realise that nothing can happen without New Delhi's consent," he added.
Indo-Asian News Service
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