Srinagar: Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone on Monday said his party will go on hunger strike outside all constitutional institutions of the country including the Indian Parliament if any non-locals were enrolled as voters in Jammu and Kashmir.
The former minister, who was an ally of the BJP till 2018, distanced himself from all part meeting, convened by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah to discuss the issue of non-local voters, saying the effort was not a serious as it was being held publicly.
“We will wait till 1st October when the draft electoral rolls are published. If there is any wrongdoing … if the electoral demography is sought to be changed, we will hit the streets, not only here but in front of all constitutional institutions of the country like Parliament. We will go on hunger strike. This battle cannot be fought here…We have to make people of India aware about what is happening,” Lone told reporters here.
Referring to the clarification of the union territory administration on the issue of non-local voters, he said, “We neither accept nor reject the clarification in totality.” Lone, who was accompanied by party leader and former law secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Mohammad Ashraf, said under the Constitution of India, enrolling outsiders as voters in Jammu and Kashmir was not possible.
“If we go by interpretation of Ashraf sahib about the relevant law, there is no possibility of enrolling such huge numbers of non-locals as voters in Jammu and Kashmir by 1st October, unless the government wants to do it. So it is not the law which is a threat to us, we are scared of those who are implementing the law.
Lone, however, said if anything concrete came out of the all party meeting, his party will support it wholeheartedly and expected reciprocal attitude from the participants in meeting for his efforts to deal with the issue of non-local voters.