A day after the Election Commission of India decided to defer the poll dates of the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary seat from May 7 to May 25, two former Chief Ministers Dr Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti arrived in Rajouri to join the ongoing poll campaign.

PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti charged authorities deliberately delayed elections in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats to manipulate voters in favor of BJP allies and frighten the people not to exercise their franchise against the ongoing onslaught of Jammu and Kashmir’s identity and resources.

Reacting to the revised schedule of the elections National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said the decision of the ECI is wrong. “This request came in from the BJP who haven’t fielded any candidate. This appears to be a planned conspiracy”, he added.

Rajouri is part of the Anantnag parliamentary constituency, which is going to polls in the sixth phase on May 25. Mian Altaf Ahmad of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference faces a direct challenge from PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, though there are 18 other candidates in the fray.

Dr Farooq Abdullah along with the party candidate addressed a worker’s convention at Kotranka in Rajouri on Wednesday. On the other hand, PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti reached Maniyal Gali in Rajouri to address an election rally.

JKNC candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad claimed, “Show me any example in history where an election was postponed because of an apprehension of mudslide. This is grossly undemocratic.”

In his speech Dr Farooq Abdullah targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to divide people of the country based on religion.He said Muslims cannot snatch anyone’s rights.

“Do not divide this country based on religion, otherwise a storm will unleash making the survival of the country difficult. It is better to talk about uniting the country, instead of dividing its people,” Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, said addressing an election rally in Thanamandi area of the Rajouri district to garner support for party candidate Mian Altaf.Criticising PM Modi’s recent speech in Agra that the Congress would “redistribute” people’s property if voted to power, Abdullah said, “We are Muslims and our Allah has told us to respect other religions… A Muslim cannot snatch anyone’s right.”

He accused the prime minister of trying to create a rift between Hindus and Muslims in the country.

“I want to tell Modi that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi stopped his vehicle in Pulwama (south Kashmir) during a visit to assure a poor Hindu woman of ‘mangalsutra’ as a gift since she was not able to purchase it,” he said.

 Addressing election rallies in Maniyal Gali, Rajouri, Mehbooba Mufti asserted the significance of the ongoing elections in safeguarding Jammu and Kashmir’s unique identity. Mehbooba also emphasized that the polls present an opportunity to send a clear message to the Union Government that decisions made on and after August 5, 2019, must be revoked.

Addressing concerns over the delayed polls, Mehbooba criticized the lack of explanation from officials and questioned their motives. She said there seems to be a collusion at play between these officials and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to manipulate the electoral process. “The government has deliberately extended the election date here to make this path hazardous for me. The officers who have delayed the polls have not provided any reasons for this. It raises questions about whether these officers are also colluding with the ECI?,” Mehbooba asked.