2 winning J&K independents switch to Bukhari party, NC cries horse trading

SRINAGAR: The first sign of swing on the DDC poll pitch in J&K came on Thursday when two of the winning independent candidates in Shopian joined the fledgling Apni Party even as the bigger players looked to firm up their numbers to form the new development councils. Fazildin Deedaad and Abdul Rashid Lone formally switched over to Altaf Bukhari's nine-month-old party in Srinagar, coinciding with National Conference's formal complaint to J&K election commissioner KK Sharma about horse trading by "touts" on behalf of "a certain political party".


"A very disturbing state of affairs has come to our notice — many independent winning DDC candidates are being coaxed and coerced...Display of money and bidding are taking place. At some places, threats are being employed," NC general secretary

Ali Mohammad Sagar

said.

Deedaad and Lone had contested and won the Kellar-I and Harmain-II seats respectively in Shopian, where the NC-led People's Alliance for

Gupkar

Declaration (PAGD) finished with a tally of seven seats, four of them through PDP. If assured of the support of Congress's lone winning candidate there, the Gupkar alliance will retain its majority even if the remaining two victorious independents join Apni Party to take its tally to 6.

Similar moves by independents in at least three other districts, including Srinagar, could be of more consequence.

Requesting the election commissioner to ensure that such "undemocratic practices" were looked into and action taken against those behind it, NC said: "The SEC can employ other means to ascertain our fears and concerns. The entire (poll) exercise is set to go futile if the SEC does not intervene immediately and forcefully."