Pulwama (Jammu and Kashmir): As voting for the much awaited Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, which are being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370, got underway on Wednesday, cadres of the banned socio-religious organisation Jamaat-e-Islami flocked to the polling booths early morning to cast their vote after nearly four decades.
The JeI, which had fought the 1987 assembly elections in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir under the Muslim United Front (MUF) banner, was declared an 'unlawful association' in the run up to the Article 370 abrogation by the BJP government at the Centre on February 28, 2019 for “fomenting terrorism and anti-India propaganda for fueling secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir, which is prejudicial to the sovereignty, security and integrity of India”.
Jamaat-e-Islami backed candidate Dr Talat Majid on Pulwama assembly constituency cast his vote today at his native village Goripora and spoke with ETV Bharat about his vote and jumping into the electoral fray as a candidate.
Dr Talat, a former JeI member, resigned from his government job and joined politics. He is contesting his maiden assembly elections against National Conference candidate Khalil Bandh and People's Democratic Party candidate Waheed Para.
Talking to ETV Bharat, Dr Talat said that the situation after 2014 elections and especially after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 followed by a shift in the India-Pakistan relation made him to “ponder deeply and decide that the banned JeI and its members must participate in the democratic exercise to address the issues that cropped up in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Dr Talat said that JeI was not against the electoral and democratic exercise but had stayed away after 1987 due to the rigging of elections by a regional party which cast deep doubts about their fairness and transparency.
"Now the elections are taking place in fair and transparent manner and I decided to participate with the banned JeI backed support to help my people to address their issues," he said.
He said that the he felt that he exercised his democratic duty by casting his vote after a long time and hoped that people in the Pulwama assembly constituency elected him to shape their present and future.
Lashing out at the regional parties, National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Talat said that these two parties ruled Kashmir for decades but didnt resolve the issues of the people.
"The NC candidates against whom I am contesting was a three time legislator and minister from Pulwama on PDP ticket. Now he is contesting from NC ticket. So, the two candidates are technically from the same parties who governed us for long time. But what are their achievements for the constituency. Noting," he said.
He said that he has roadmap and development plan for the constituency and his focus will be youth oriented so that their aspirations and issues are addressed.
